New Fund To Help Rwanda Genocide Survivors

UN PARTNERSHIP UNIT WELCOMES NEW FUND TO HELP RWANDA GENOCIDE SURVIVORS

New York, Apr 4 2005 6:00PM

On the eve of the 11th anniversary of the massacre of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda, a senior United Nations official welcomed the establishment of an international fund to help with projects to aid Rwandans with their recovery from the 1994 genocide.

The International Fund for Rwanda, established by people who worked on the film "Hotel Rwanda" and by the UN Foundation (UNF), is "a very timely initiative" in light of a General Assembly resolution adopted last December that deals with assistance to survivors of the mass killings, particularly orphans, widows and victims of sexual violence, said Amir A. Dossal, Executive Director of the UN Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP).

With collaboration of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the funds, expected to come especially from mobilized grassroots people, would support genocide survivors, especially orphans heading households, and returning refugees.

It would also train doctors and nurses, replacing those who were killed or took part in the killing, establish gender-sensitive HIV/AIDS income-generating projects and support a film school in Rwanda's capital, Kigali.

"It is not too late to help those who survived the Rwandan genocide and will create the country's future. This project shows the value and the power of private-public partnerships to transform countries devastated by conflict," UNF president Tim Wirth said.

UNF dispenses the $1 billion gift donated to the UN in 1997 by communications tycoon Ted Turner.

2005-04-04 00:00:00.000

© Scoop Media