Tower and Town, July 2019 (view the full edition)A Country Full Of Bodies - Civil War TodayReflecting on her own experience, Action Aid's country director in Rwanda, Josephine Uwamariya vividly remembers returning to Rwanda in 1995. She saw it as 'a country full of bodies - like there was no hope at all.' She visited the community where her family of 20 had lived and found only two survivors. To this day, she has not been able to locate her relatives who were killed and bury them properly. She says this is very hard but as a Rwandan it is important to say it happened and move on. Josephine says: 'All the communities we work in have been affected by the genocide, because genocide was nationwide. So when we work with communities we are cautious of that. Everything we do is geared towards unity and coexistence and because we know that poverty was one of the leading causes of the genocide, we are fighting that. 'People must honour their commitments to upholding human rights and most importantly the basic right to life. 'We must invest in the young people and children of Rwanda, because the future generation must uphold the unity prevailing today. Many of their parents perpetrated, or were part of the genocide. 'One of the issues that led to the genocide was poverty. The perpetrators were promising those who engaged in killings that they could take the property of the Tutsis'. 'If people are not economically empowered they can find themselves sleepwalking back into a situation where they don't care for their people and neighbours because they want land. 'We must learn from what happened in Rwanda not to be complacent again.' ActionAid is an international charity working with the poorest women and girls. In civil war, the underlying acceptance of violence against women and girls in many societies is heightened by insecurity and displacement. This means women and girls are more at risk of rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy and forced marriage. Women and girls also have limited access to basic services, such as healthcare and education. As a result, structural inequalities are created that last for many years. ActionAid is committed to promoting women's leadership in emergencies, because women bring vital skills, resources and experience to humanitarian response. We provide training on women's rights, leadership skills and disaster preparedness, and support women to rebuild their livelihoods in the aftermath. Charlotte Clark (Action Aid) |