Parliamentary retreat to discuss Genocide ideology

KIGALI - Parliament is organizing a five-day retreat that is expected to address issues of unity and reconciliation and how the Genocide ideology can be uprooted from society. The retreat that is scheduled to take place between January 11 and 15, 2010 will bring together members of both chambers. It is organized by the Standing Committees on Unity and Reconciliation, Human Rights and Fight against Genocide in both chambers. “We will be talking about the role of parliament in promoting unity and reconciliation. We will also list some of the major challenges and plan for ways of addressing them,” Hon. Evariste Kalisa said. Kalisa is the chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Unity, Human Rights and the Fight against Genocide. “Some of the major challenges today include the looming Genocide ideology – this will be top of the agenda of challenges that we will be looking at,” said Kalisa. According to Kalisa, MPs and senators will be presenting the situation regarding unity and reconciliation from their constituencies. Meanwhile, a pilot study on the progress in the campaign to uproot Genocide ideology in schools indicated that the vice originates from students’ families and communities neighboring the schools. The survey was conducted by the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG) in collaboration with the La Benevolencia, a Non Governmental Organization. Although there has been progress in eradicating the ideology, several officials have apportioned blame on some teachers for spreading it. Ends