The despicable experience of women during the 1994 Genocide served as an eye-opener to Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) officers and men who, consequently, made an unwavering resolve to always protect women and girls trapped in conflicts as their own sisters or mothers, the Army Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Charles Kayonga has said.

He was addressing a workshop on gender-based violence at Hotel Novotel Umubano Friday. He continued that RDF peacekeepers in the Sudanese region of Darfur and in other peacekeeping missions continue to help females with compassion.

"This spirit drives the RDF in peacekeeping missions. Whether we are in Khartoum or Darfur or Comoros, it is as if we are in another province of Rwanda. We see the women there as our own mothers, sisters, and aunties," he said.

"Our experience of the Genocide of 1994 opened our eyes and is inevitably related to our intolerance and attitude to the crime," Kayonga said.

The two-day workshop, co-organised by the RDF and Unifem, and funded by DFID, attracted participants from Rwanda, Uganda, Somalia, Burundi, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Ghana, Malawi, among others.

"We do for them as we do for our mothers and sisters back home. This is at the core of RDF values and ethos," Kayonga said.

He said rape and mutilation were used as a weapon during the Genocide, adding that elements that afflicted gender-based violence crimes on Rwandan women during that period continue to do the same to Congolese women.

Thousands of ex-FAR and Interahamwe militias largely responsible for the Genocide are holed up in mostly eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where they have been accused of committing human rights abuses.

"Gender-based violence is a dangerous weapon because it also spreads the HIV/AIDS", he added, promising that RDF members involved in peacekeeping mission "will continue to be characterized by high moral standards".

"Indiscipline and other forms of misconduct by peacekeepers do not only undermine the credibility of contributing countries, but also impact negatively on the general conduct of the mission," Kayonga said.

"There is no evidence that women make better peacekeepers, but there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that the presence of women improves an operation’s chances of success." Professor Gerard Degroot of Saint Andrews University, Scotland, said.

The British Ambassador to Rwanda, Nicholas Cannon said: "Women’s self control in aggressive times is vital in peacekeeping. They calm stressful situations as they are expected to do for the simple fact that they are not men."

And in an interview with The New Times, the Unifem National Programme Officer Donnah Kamashazi said: "Given their (women’s) non violent nature, reports have shown that women are better peacekeepers."

Several RDF soldiers were due to share their first-hand experiences on the subject during the gathering.

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