The Uzabaho Grace Mission (UGM), a local NGO, has launched a programme to support Genocide widows in Munyaga sector, Rwamagana district.

This was said, yesterday, at a function to accord decent burial to several victims of the Genocide in Munyaga sector.

The event was preceded by a requiem mass for the victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

UGM offered unspecified amount of money to the widoes and promised continued support in many other ways.

According to Kazungu Bisangabagabo, the UGM lawyer, solidarity with Genocide survivors was a norm in the NGO, adding that they will continuously help widows meet their needs and help them realise their rights.

Bisangabagabo said UGM seeks to economically empower survivors of the Genocide and improve their lives.

Survivors need help

He said despite positive efforts made, there remains a major gap in the needs of survivors and the resources being made available to them.

"We need to go beyond sentiments to provide homes for survivors of the Genocide, give them income to enable them fight poverty. One of the most demoralising realities survivors of the Genocide have faced is access to resources,” he said.

"Many development organisations and NGOs working in Rwanda have largely failed to acknowledge and adequately respond to their needs. UGM wants to make a difference.”

Anastasie Nyiramacankwenda, one of the beneficiaries, said she was humbled by the support the NGO offered.

"It’s never easy for most widows  of the Genocide. We live in a state of despair. So, when an NGO like Uzabaho Grace Mission gets concerned about our situation, we feel so humbled. It’s not about how much you give that matters, but the heart with which you do it,” Nyiramacankwenda said.

Munyaga is the area where the first Tutsi was killed in Rwamagana district.