African youth as ambassadors of morality

Curtains closed at the Third Eastern Africa Youth Forum (EAYF) on Saturday 23 February 2013 with a rallying call for the youth to be ambassadors of morality! Speaking at the closing ceremony, Ambassador Fatuma Ndangiza, the Deputy CEO of the Rwanda Governance Board, reminded the youth from Eastern Africa and beyond of the great stories of Africa that are always forgotten in the midst of addressing challenges and concerns in our beloved continent. ‘There are great stories in every African country. And the youth should start telling the positive stories of Africa’, she said. Tapping from the Rwanda genocide experience, Amb. Fatuma reiterated the need for moral values, noting that ‘moral decay created seeds of hatred that led to the 1994 genocide’. And now, because of a call to unity and reconciliation, Rwandans are more united, speak a common language and share one culture.

Alongside her was Didacienne Mukahabeshimana, the President of Initiatives of Change – Rwanda, who challenged the youth to lead by example as they seek to share what they had learned during their time in Rwanda. Speaking on behalf of the National Youth Council of Rwanda, Jean Marie Kegenza noted that EAYF was a great initiative bringing together youths to explore solutions to common challenges faced in the region. He affirmed a greater support and partnership with IofC initiatives Rwanda in the future. Also present at the closing was Laurent Munyandirikwa - President of Farmers Dialogue Rwanda, Mathilde Kayitesi - Executive Secretary of Umuhuza Organization and a representative from the directorate of Immigration,Rwanda.

The five day conference shared great success lessons from Rwanda sparking hope among the young people who attended it. The forum brought together over 90 youths from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan as well as friends of goodwill from South Africa, Congo, Australia and Germany. The forum opened on Tuesday 19 February and ran for five days. The theme for the forum was ‘Moral Values: The Key to a Brighter Future.’

Speaking at the opening ceremony earlier in the week, Rosemary Mbabazi, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and ICT, reminded the youth that they are the ‘human capital of the world and as such, should not overlook their potential in doing great things in their communities.’ She challenged the young leaders to become transformational rather than be transactional in their leadership, adding that ‘…youth were considered as vulnerable people, who always need a push in action but now they are socio-economically productive.’ Also present at the opening ceremony was Didacienne Mukahabeshimana; Nina Shalita – Deputy Director General of Imbuto Foundation - an Initiative of the first Lady of Rwanda; James Tongo - President of EAYF; Alphonse Nkhuranga - Executive Secretary of the National Youth Council; and Mathilde Kayitesi. The five-day programme was punctuated by plenary sessions, facilitated by an experienced array of speakers who are leaders in their own fields of expertise, workshop sessions, stories of change, reflection sessions, family group sharing and singing.

The Wednesday plenary addressed the issue of Youth Stewardship, facilitated by Father Charles Hakorimana from Rwanda; Dan Mugera - a public speaker and coach from Kenya; and Alphonse Nkhuranga, the Executive Secretary of the National Youth Council - Rwanda. Participants also attended workshops facilitated by speakers with great experience in ICT, entrepreneurship, climate change and peace-building. A special session on climate change was also facilitated by the Executive Director of ACORD international, Francois Munyentwari.

Thursday was an opportunity for the participants to visit the renowned genocide memorial centre in Kigali, home to the remains of over 200,000 people killed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Afterwards, participants listened to moving stories of people living in Reconciliation villages in the outskirts of Kigali. These villages were created after the genocide, as part of the national reconciliation programme, with perpetrators and victims of the 1994 genocide living together. This visit to the Genocide site and the Villages of Reconciliation was facilitated by the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC). The Executive Secretary of NURC accompanied participants to the village of reconciliation. On Friday, participants listened from Moses Monday, Executive Director of ONAD in South Sudan, who shared on ‘Democracy in Africa’, while Dr Karambu Ringera, Founder of International Peace Initiative (IPI) shared on the contribution of gender in leadership.

To crown the Rwandan experience, participants took part in Umuganda, a clean-up exercise carried out nationally on the last saturday of every month. In this exercise communities gather together and clean their local area. It was amazing to note that even the President himself is involved in the clean-up exercise. The participants joined the local community and several parliamentarians for the clean-up, clearing a huge bush terrain around parliament buildings.

The next forum will be held in Burundi between 17-22 February 2014. Participants witnessed a change of guard as Mbindyo Kimanthi from Kenya,  who has been the Chairman for the forum for the last two years, and Louis Ngarambe from Rwanda, who was the Coordinator for the Rwanda forum, handed over the mantle of leadership to Zachariah Muturi (Kenya) and Marc Bukuru (Burundi) as Chairman of Planning team and Conference Coordinator respectively.

This year’s forum received huge support both financially and morally from the government of Rwanda through the Rwanda Governance Board, Imbuto Foundation, Ministry of Youth and ICT and National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC). Umuhuza organization and ACORD International, Rwanda offered great support as well. We also wish to recognize the great financial support received from Irene Prestwich Trust (IPT), Silvia Zuber Fund (SZF), Friends of Africa (FoA), IofC Kenya as well as John Mills Africa Fund, plus other individual supporters.

Much gratitude to the local planning team from Rwanda, as well as the Core Team for the EAYF - the vision bearers of the forum (made up of eight young people) who have continuously sacrificed their time and resources to make sure the forum happens.

A more comprehensive report shall be out soon.