Survivors’ associations meet to streamline activities

All associations under IBUKA, the Genocide survivors’ umbrella body, yesterday held a consultative meeting to ensure that all Genocide survivors access their benefits effectively, . Organised by the National Commission for the Fight against the Genocide, the meeting was aimed at assessing their achievements as well as seeking common solutions to the challenges they encounter. IBUKA was created in 1995 with the aim of addressing issues of justice, memory, social and economic problems faced by the survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Speaking to the media, the Executive Secretary of CNLG, Jean De Dieu Mucyo, noted that it was normal for the associations to assemble and streamline their operations for better output. “We need to share information on how we can improve our work efficiently. We have discovered that there are survivors, especially in villages, who do not access their benefits,” Mucyo said. All 15 associations that make up IBUKA presented their achievements and challenges during the meeting. Mucyo acknowledged the need to embark on a strategy where all survivors countrywide, especially those in far-flung villages, are offered assistance. The Executive Secretary of IBUKA, Javier Forongo, pointed out that they also needed to carry out an impact assessment exercise to gauge how the benefits have promoted the survivors’ welfare, and to come up with the exact number of survivors who need assistance. “We need to find out if the assistance these people get has had any impact, whether it has developed them or not,” he said. On the issue of orphans who completed their secondary school education but failed to join universities due to lack of finances, Folongo noted that IBUKA is now registering them to join vocational institutions. Innocent Ntagara, the Executive Secretary of Barakabaho Foundation, one of the associations under IBUKA, underscored that unless all associations merge efforts and share experiences, their objective would not be achieved effectively. Barakabaho Foundation assists about 594 orphans in the Eastern, Western and Southern provinces. Ends