Rwanda (view map)

A small, densely populated country of 10.4 million people, Rwanda is located in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa. Since the mid-1990s Rwanda’s economy has grown by a record 10 per cent year on year – with key exports including coffee, tea, hides and tin ore. Despite this, it is estimated that 60% of the Rwandans are still living in poverty.

The country remains infamous for the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered over a period of just 100 days. The conflict began in 1990 when the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front attempted to regain political control of the country from the Hutu majority. When a plane carrying the Hutu President and his Burundian counterpart was shot down in April 1994, the Hutu government sanctioned the mass killing of Rwanda’s Tutsi population and moderate Hutus. Millions of people were forced to flee their homes and the country’s physical and administrative infrastructure was left in ruins.

Thousands of ordinary Rwandans accused of involvement in the genocide face trial in the traditional community courts known as Gacaca. During the Gacaca trials, the accused are taken to the village of the alleged crime to seek forgiveness and reconciliation with the people and the families they targeted. Meanwhile, the ringleaders of the genocide, including the former Prime Minister and 11 government ministers, are being tried for their crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Tanzania.

However, since the genocide, Rwanda has made a startling political and economic recovery. To date, 3.5 million refugees and over 30,000 former combatants have been repatriated; resettled and reintegrated into their communities; it is believed that the full reintegration of ex-soldiers is a vital step towards ensuring lasting peace in Rwanda.

In terms of politics, Rwanda held local elections in March 1999 and Presidential and Legislative elections in September 2003. Rwanda has become the first country in the world to have more female MPs than male. The female representatives make up 56% of the Rwandan parliament, as opposed to 35% of women in the Scottish parliament and 20% in the House of Commons.

SCIAF is currently working with one partner in Rwanda, the Catholic Episcopal Justice and Peace Commission Rwanda, to promote peace and reconciliation.