Musanze, 29 November 2021

Senior Government and security officials including Ministers, Senior military officials (Maj Gen - Lt Gen), Members of Parliament and representatives of political parties from the Republic of South Sudan are in Rwanda to participate in the Senior Leadership Post-Conflict Peacebuilding, Reconstruction and Stabilisation Course in Musanze District that will run from 29 Nov to 3rd Dec 21.

The five-day course is run by Rwanda Peace Academy in partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC).

During his opening remarks, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr Vincent Biruta said that this course is an essential component of the process to achieve sustainable peace and reconciliation in nations that have been affected by traumatic violence.

“Rwanda and South Sudan share a lot of similarities in their history including a tragic past of violent conflicts but also the capacity to overcome these tragedies and build resilient societies whose communities can live together in peace and prosper for the generations to come. In Rwanda, reconciliation and peacebuilding processes have played a crucial role in resolving political and perceived ethnic differences.” said Dr Biruta.

In his statement, the South Sudan Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro said that this course means a lot to them as they are implementing an agreement which requires that they stabilize their country in terms of achieving sustainable peace, reconstruction and institutional development.

“We think that the work done by Rwandans to achieve what you have achieved in terms of peace, community integration and institutional building, is what we need; and we think that Rwanda being a close country to us is better example for us to learn from than to be anywhere else,” said Minister Lomuro.