On 27th November 2018, Never Again Rwanda organized a strategic meeting convening peace actors to share approaches for healing in the Rwandan society. This was in line with the implementation of the four year ‘Societal Healing and Participatory Governance for Peace’ program, in partnership with Interpeace, implemented since 2015. The Societal Healing Axis supports youth and community members from diverse backgrounds to discuss their traumatic past through dialogue using psychosocial support group approach.
Different peace actors shared feedback on NAR’s presentation of approaches. One of the themes to come out of these discussions was that healing and reconciliation is possible if a wounded person is supported through safe spaces where they can talk and express their concerns and wounds.
The safe spaces that NAR have created have helped members to begin a journey of healing. The recent end line survey demonstrated the Impact of trauma decreased by 25% on average for all groups. Spaces for peace indicated a 66% decline in thoughts of suicide (15%-5 %); 50% decrease among people who reported depression (44.5%-23.4%), 35% decrease in Post Traumatic Distress and 25% overall improvement in psychological resilience which increased by 33% among women.
Panelists, which featured members of the safe spaces for peace, shared their unique testimonies on the impact of these safe spaces. Their testimonies demonstrated that healing is not needed for one part of Rwandans, but that all Rwandans have wounds due to our history. Be it the survivors, perpetrators, or refugees; everyone needs to be assisted for healing and this can’t happen in a short time, it requires spaces that enable people to open up, share their wounds, and hence feel protected and not alone.