Memory at risk: the importance of genocide archives for justice, remembrance, research and education

Beyond the long shadow: engaging with difficult histories is a live discussion series organized by the United Nations Department of Global Communications. The series is organized by the Outreach Programme on the transatlantic slave trade and slavery, the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme, and the Outreach Programme on the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and the United Nations. The aim of the collaborative series is to develop a deeper understanding of the legacies of these painful histories – and through examining the past, consider how best to build a world that is just, where all can live in dignity and peace.

Join us for the 5th installment of this Live Discussion Series:

Memory at risk: the importance of genocide archives for justice, remembrance, research and education

Archives play a crucial role in genocide remembrance and education and have been essential for legal procedures and conflict transformation processes in the aftermath of genocide. Establishing comprehensive archives in post-genocide societies can be a challenge, as well as ensuring the continuous preservation of artifacts and documents, and their accessibility to the public.

In a context of increasing disinformation, archives as places of authentic historical information, are an important counterbalance to narratives that seek to distort or deny genocidal pasts and form an important basis for informed research and education.

Register here: https://unesco-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R2NKoD1CR2aIVHXygJKYVA

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com.

The MenEngage Ubuntu Symposium

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to announce that the Closing Event of the MenEngage Ubuntu Symposium will take place on Tuesday 22 June. As with the Opening Event back in November, the event will take place live from Kigali, Rwanda and online from across the globe.

Register here http://bit.ly/UbuntuCloseEvent

Time: 2:00pm (Kigali), 5:30pm (New Delhi), 10:00pm (Sydney), 9:00am (Montevideo), 8:00am (Washington DC)
Click here to see when the event starts in your timezone

Where: It will take place online – and live from Kigali, Rwanda

The MenEngage Ubuntu Symposium continues to be the most ambitious collective activity to have been embarked on as a global alliance for transforming patriarchal masculinities and engaging men and boys for gender equality, social justice and climate justice. Members and partners of MenEngage Alliance have been hosting Ubuntu Symposium sessions over an 8-month period since November 2020.By being part of this ongoing effort, many of you have contributed to an unprecedented level of discussion, reflection, knowledge building and renewed commitment to action across MenEngage Alliance and beyond.

The closing ceremony will be a celebration of the unity, diversity, expertise and learning you all have contributed during these 8 months as participants, session organizers, facilitators, and speakers. It will be a unique opportunity to reflect on the symposium’s goals and the Ubuntu Symposium journey we have been on together.

The event will set out pathways for the future of our shared work – to make it more accountable, more intersectional, transformative, political and impactful for gender, social and climate justice.

Registration for the Closing Ceremony is currently open and free to members and non-members of MenEngage Alliance. Please note, the start and end times shown above are preliminary and may be subject to change.

If you have any questions or need clarifications, please don’t hesitate to contact: symposium@menengage.org

Thank you,
UN Women

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch.

Hybrid Commemoration of the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda

Dear NGO representatives,

The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Rwanda and the United Nations Office at Geneva will mark the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda during a hybrid ceremony to be held on Wednesday, 7 April 2021 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The ceremony will include the message of Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, read by Ms. Tatiana Valovaya, Director‑General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, followed by her own remarks and the statements of Ms. Ghada Waly, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna and Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, of H.E. Mrs. Marie Chantal Rwakazina, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Rwanda to the United Nations Office and other international organizations at Geneva, of Mrs. Nadia Galinier, survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and of Mr. Cesar Murangira, President of the Association of Genocide survivors IBUKA, Memory and Justice (Swiss section). This year’s ceremony will also include a poem read by Ms. Sarah Burckhardt. Interpretation will be provided in English and French.

You are cordially invited to this important event through this link. You can also watch live at webtv.un.org.

Provisional Program:

Introduction by the Master of Ceremonies, Ms. Alessandra Vellucci Director, United Nations Information Service
Lighting of candles
Observance of a minute of silence
Message of Mr. António Guterres Secretary-General of the United Nations, read by Ms. Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, followed by the Director-General’s remarks
Remarks by Ms. Ghada Waly Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna and Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Remarks by Mr. César Murangira President of the Association of Genocide survivors IBUKA, Memory and Justice (Swiss section)
Testimony by Mrs. Nadia Galinier Survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda
Reading of a poem by Ms. Sarah Burckhardt
Remarks by H.E. Mrs. Marie Chantal Rwakazina Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the United Nations Office and other international organizations at Geneva

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@gmail.com.

Rwanda