SOUTHERN PROVINCE HUYE — Students at the National University of Rwanda (NUR) have formed a forum that would bring together all their associations by districts of origin to harmonise their service. The forum called the Districts University Students’ Associations Forum (DUSAF) was launched last Saturday. It will help to advocate for application of students’ initiatives in their home-districts. “Some mayors don’t know that they can use university students in their programmes,” said Xavier Habakurama, DUSAF’s representative. “We feel that by coming here to fetch knowledge, we will have signed a contract to help our people back home.” About 5000 students at NUR are grouped into 30 associations based on their home districts in the country. Habakurama said that the students used to help in different programmes initiated by local leaders whenever they are in holidays. He noted that their activities need to be harmonized by planning them in a common framework. “The forum was instituted to help bring our efforts together,” he said. He explained that students want to help local leaders in districts to implement their activities in different domains like health, poverty reduction, alphabetisation, and good governance. Officiating at the launch of the forum, the acting Secretary General of the Rwandan Association of Local Government Authorities (RALGA), Richard Rutayisire, advised students to always conduct research to understand their districts’ plans and people’s needs. “You need to know your districts’ plans to avoid interference,” he said. “This is an important forum. Use it to achieve what you want and no one will refuse to give you ideas.” Rutayisire said that Rwanda needs youth’s input in the country’s development and observed that university students are important opinion leaders. They have “bright ideas to boost the country’s development,” he said. “This forum was just created at the right moment when people need youth’s ideas,” he added. He pledged RALGA’s help in directing DUSAF’s members to different initiatives where they can take their expertise and in inviting its leaders to attend different useful undertakings. The local governance official urged the students to avoid any kind of discrimination among them and to promote gender in their activities in order to achieve their goals. DUSAF’s representative said that the forum’s plans in a near future include meetings with districts’ authorities and RALGA leaders in May to review their programmes. They also plan to invite authorities from central government to lecture students at NUR on different themes. Ends
