Audrey Azoulay the Director general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has paid tribute to victims of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi during which more than a million lives were lost.
The UNESCO director laid a wreath of flowers at the final resting place of victims of the genocide against Tutsi.
“30 years after the start of the genocide against the Tutsis, to mark the support of UNESCO for the work of memory carried out by the Rwandan people and to underline the importance of investing in education for transmitting this memory to young people,” she wrote on her page on platform X.
She said that one in two Rwandans is under 30 years old and has therefore not directly experienced the horror. But the consequences of genocides are felt over generations.
“It’s the story of their parents, their family. It is essential to teach facts in classrooms,” she noted.
“Rwandan authorities have set up a national team dedicated to education on the genocide against the Tutsi,” Azoulay said adding, that UNESCO provides it with training and educational materials, and puts it in a network with professionals from other countries facing the same challenges.
According to her UNESCO also published a guide that gives Rwandan teachers methods to address the genocide against the Tutsi with their students.
She explains in particular the importance of relying on historical knowledge and the testimonies of survivors.
Because education also happens outside of school, Rwanda and UNESCO set up last year a network of twenty local mediators who teach about the genocide in local communities and among young people out of school.
Azoulay said she travelled to Nyamagabe district on Saturday and listened to testimonies from survivors.

“These women and men have experienced the worst, got back up and continue to believe in humanity. I told them my deep respect for their action in favour of transmission and for making reconciliation possible,” she said.