Never Again Rwanda with the DRC Congo partner, Pole Institute took the International Day of Peace celebrations to the Goma-Rubavu border communities. The event that was organized in a series of different activities in Rubavu and Goma included: a youth dialogue session on critical thinking for peace, a dialogue on the compensation of victims whose houses were demolished in Birere and a football for peace.
The youth dialogue session aimed to: provide a platform for exchange of experiences and good practices; promote the role of the youth in peace, security and development processes; promote dialogue between the youth and decision-makers; and reinforce the capacities of youth in coordinating, networking and educating the population on their role in the promotion of peace through the use of critical thinking skills. Since the region suffers lingering issues such as identity-based manipulations and stereotypes, the need to foster critical thinking was raised as a way to build trust and tolerance among the youth from different backgrounds.
In his opening remarks, the Head of Programs at Never Again Rwanda, Eric Mahoro called upon the youth to use critical thinking in order to shape the communities to be more just, inclusive, and sustainable while Gilbert Gahunde, Director of Good Governance in Rubavu District called on youth saying that “For peace to be attained, youth have to take the lead role thus pledged to support youth to choose peace so as to drive to development”.
Youth participants from Rwanda and Congo used the open floor to discuss how to resist manipulation while defining critical thinking. “Critical thinking to me means the ability to not accept what we are told without proof or the act of responsible and reflective thinking.”
Crossing over to the DRC, in Goma another similar event was held to tackle the issue of the demolition of the properties of families that were living at Birere border side in Goma and the delayed compensation of victims, a situation if not resolved, could jeopardize the peacebuilding efforts in the region. In the event that convened victims and leaders, resolutions were adopted and a committee was created to follow-up with the implementation of the resolutions.
To wide up the series of events, a Football for Peace game between Youth from Rwanda and youth from DRC/Goma was organized. The game with guidelines the first of its kind aimed to spread the ideals of peace to not only the players but rather also the nearby communities.
Throughout the event, peace actors were called upon to work tirelessly to strengthen mutual respect and trust between youth from Rwanda and DRC and to equip both groups of young people with competencies to develop local projects that promote peace, so as to ensure the active role of the youth as peacebuilders and initiators for reconciliation in their very own communities.