RGB commends youth efforts in nation building

Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) has commended the youth for their initiatives in nation building and urged them to work together through sharing ideas and enhancing good relations.

Thursday, May 30, 2013
Prof. Shyaka has said RGB will continue supporting youth efforts. The New Times/ T. Kisambira.

Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) has commended the youth for their initiatives in nation building and urged them to work together through sharing ideas and enhancing good relations. Prof. Anastase Shyaka, the RGB chief executive,  made the remarks while meeting leaders of university governance clubs from across the country in Kigali, yesterday. The meeting was a follow up of a resolution that was passed after the Governance Month where the board was tasked to engage the youth in service delivery, governance and the national development agenda. Prof. Shyaka also pledged continued support to the youth in good governance and nation building. "Youths are the most precious capital Rwanda has and are also tomorrow’s leaders and thus the need to involve them in the country’s policy framework,” he said.He added that RGB was satisfied with what the youth, especially the Forum of University students in Rwanda (FAGER) and other youth forums have done in the past three months, by serving communities around their universities, providing health insurance and participating in nation building through development activities. FAGER was established to harmonise ideas from varsity students in order to build the country through community service. According to the coordinator of FAGER, Daniel Komezusenge, a programme dubbed students on the field was initiated in March to sustain poor families, to raise awareness on drug abuse and cultivate hope in youth where every school was assigned one district to look after. Students from FAGER covered tasks worth Rwf140 million whereby 28 houses were built, 246 goats and 490 insurance cards distributed to vulnerable families.  They also fixed 3 kilometres of Ngororero Road and dug 3.5 kilometres of water canal in Nyamagabe, among others. Komezusenge said that the idea was conceived to make youth contribute constructively to nation building. "We are working on the self reliance project yet to be launched that is to help build houses for the poor and we will be asking students to contribute at least Rwf100 towards building 100 houses. We have so far collected five million.” Komezusenge said, adding that they are targeting use of sms to collect more contributions. Apart from nation building and good governance, the youth were also encouraged to embrace use of social media in profiling the country to promote its image beyond borders. The move is aimed at strengthening the youth participation in good governance and democratic principles in a bid to achieve vision 2020.