National Unity and Reconciliation Commission received a delegation from Madagascar

The delegation from Madagascar was hosted by The Executive Secretary Mr. Fidèle NDAYISABA who explained to them about the historical background of Rwanda, under which circumstance the Unity and Reconciliation Policy was made, the approaches to Unity and Reconciliation such as Ingando, Itorero, reintegration of ex-army forces, Gacaca courts, and lessons from the practical approaches to development on the basis of Unity and Reconciliation with an emphasis on the importance of participation of the communities, holistic approach in terms of formal methods and informal methods.

During the discussion session, the participants questioned how Rwandan achieved the integrated civil society, the role of faith based organizations in the process of healing and forgiveness, which strategies contributed to avoiding revenge, how to measure the reconciliation, and so on. These questions provided by the participants, who have a variety of occupations from journalists to politicians and have the same interest in the role of leader and political mechanisms, were answered by the Executive Secretary one by one along with the details of the background.

Prisqua Miharilala, who is a female participate, commented that she could understand how the government got to reconciled, especially through the Gacaca courts. She also said that “if I had lived during the genocide period, it would be very hard to forget and forgive someone who killed my family. In that sense, these things; forgiveness and reconciliation are one of the values Rwandans have.” 

The head of the delegation, Mr. Oliver Dalichau, who is the head of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) which is a non-profit German foundation committing to the advancement of both socio-political and economic development with a focus on social democracy, appreciated having the opportunity for young leaders from Madagascar to learn in Rwanda and said that “We have the intention to initiate a similar program in Rwanda from next year to promote good governance and social justice”.

NURC was delighted to receive them who are willing to learn about Rwandan history, the role of NURC, and what path Rwandan society has been through until today. NURC hopes that they could get some new perspectives from Rwandan characteristic society through the constructive discussions and they will take a lead in making the society better as representatives of the younger generation.