Writing in the Montreal Gazette, Dr Noam Schimmel documents an Opinion piece on “30 years on, how Canada can help Rwandan genocide survivors” that commitments should be made to accept a meaningful number of immigrants on a humanitarian basis, and to improve development aid efforts.
Marking the 30th Anniversary of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda (Kwibuka 30), Dr Schimmel states that “…going forward, the survivors of the genocide must be at the centre of development aid, and their human rights, well-being and dignity affirmed, respected, protected and fulfilled.” This is because:
“….I have [also] learned that genocide survivors flourish when given opportunities that support and reflect their human rights and that integrate them as partners in development, with full rights to consultation, representation and participation.
“When development aid agencies such as Britain’s Department for International Development support development aid projects organized and implemented by genocide survivors with their partnership, the outcomes are transformative.
“The same is true of smaller NGOs such as Survivors Fund (SURF), which has worked for decades as the principal organization run by Rwandan genocide survivors to advance community development, educational opportunity, skills training, legal advocacy, and health care and housing for genocide survivors.”
