SOUTHERN PROVINCE

GISAGARA — The Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Dr Jeanne D’Arc Mujawamariya has announced that government is planning to investigate the growing cases of child abandonment in the country.

Speaking in Gisagara District recently, the minister said that there has been a steady increase in the number of abandoned children since 2002.

Dr Mujawamariya noted that the number of abandoned children has continued to rise in many child centres in the country.

She said, "The Calcutta Centre in Kigali that cares for abandoned children has registered a growing number of such children since 2002. Many such cases are being reported in other parts of the country.

It is time for all Rwandans to wake up to and face this problem squarely.”

Commenting on the Day of the African Child, which was commemorated recently, Mujawamariya decried the brutality subjected to children during the 1994 Rwanda Genocide.

Rwanda started commemorating the International Day of the African Child in 1992. Mujawamariya said that this was mere rheto go to school. Over 100 such children have since returned to school.

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