Rwanda: Shaping how peace is taught

10 November 2011 - Interpeace Rwandan partner, Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace (IRDP) has been working closely with Rwanda’s new Peace Academy to assess peacebuilding initiatives in Rwanda since of the genocide of 1994 and develop the peace curriculum.

Since 2001, IRDP has been working on enabling Rwandans to overcome the legacy of the genocide that took the lives of close to one millionTutsis and moderate Hutus in just 100 days back in 1994.

With a focus on enabling Rwandans to rebuild unity and lasting peace,IRDP has been working intensely with the Rwandan Ministry of Defence to curate a programme on peacebuilding and conflict analysis for their new academy – the Rwandan Peace Academy. The Academy aims to offer training and research programmes around post-conflict challenges.

Open to people from across the continent

The Academy will be for civilians, police and military personnel., representatives from authorities , not only from Rwanda, but also from other African countries.The academy aims to enhance the regional capacity for conflict prevention and management so enabling societies to build peace locally.

A challenging academic programme

Specific areas of the training include, peace and leadership, human security and protection of civilians, transitional justice, In the future, there will also be the opportunity to enrol in a Master’s programme in peacebuilding and post-conflict resilience.

Providing access to 10 years of Rwandan peacebuilding experience

IRDP drew on its ten-year experience in the region and contributed to the curriculum development around topics of peacebuilding and conflict analysis.

The first stone of the building that is going to host the Academy was put in place on 13 October 2011. The facilities are scheduled to be ready in one year with the first students starting to take classes directly afterwards.

Professor Rwanyindo explains. Photo Credit: Interpeace

Reinforcing peace to support economic growth and development

Professor Rwanyindo, Director of IRDP explains: “The establishment of the Peace Academy symbolizes Rwanda’s commitment to building lasting peace. This is an important initiative that shows that Rwanda is working hard to reinforce the positive environment that is needed for economic growth and development. The Peace Academy demonstrates the efforts that are being put behind ensuring that peace in Rwanda lasts.”