1. Background Information
1.1. Brief History of Citizenship Education
“Civic education” means all the processes that affect people’s beliefs, commitments, capabilities, and actions as members or prospective members of communities.
1.2. The Civic Values of Rwanda
Rwandans share cultural values notably unity, patriotism, social cohesion, resilience, hard work among others, with Kinyarwanda being the common language spoken in all parts of the country. In June 2012, Rwanda's community-based Gacaca courts closed after processing almost two million cases of crimes of genocide. The courts were at the heart of government efforts to achieve national unity and reconciliation following the killings of the 1994 genocide. In just 100 days, ethnic Hutu militias orchestrated the death of their ethnic Tutsi kin and kith. The sheer size and scale of the violence of the 1994 genocide makes post-genocide justice a complicated affair, as the Rwandan Patriotic Front (R P F) government has sought to hold accountable every individual accused of genocide crimes.
It is against this background, that the Government of Rwanda initiated many more Civic Education programs like ITORERO, UMUGANDA, EVENING PARENTS PROGRAMS, National Electoral Commission Civic Education Program in partnership with the International partners and many others, all aimed at promoting civic education.
2. Definition Of Citizenship Education
In Rwanda, citizenship education is called Civic Education. In 2007, the Rwandan government introduced a nationwide civic education program, called “Itorero” which literally means an upright citizen or a hero. It was started to teach all inhabitants about its vision of the model Rwandan citizen. Since then, this ideal has been pursued through remote training camps, village assemblies and daily government practices.
Based on ethnographic research of the life, workings of Itorero camps and the day-to-day administration of a local neighborhood in Kigali, this investigates how such a pursuit has come to affect Rwandans’ relation to the state and what it may tell us about modern forms of authoritarian rule.
Itorero is a civic education program based on patriotic values that strengthen Rwandan citizens’ contribution towards the development of their country and the well-being of their society. It was reintroduced in 2009 as a way of rebuilding the nation’s social fabric and mobilize Rwandans to uphold important cultural values and spur a sense of dedication to their country. The program is run by the National Itorero Commission (NIC), which is an independent commission responsible for planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of Itorero programs at all levels of society.
The main activity of Itorero is a series of training sessions that include lessons on Rwanda’s history and culture along with physical activities. These sessions aim at educating Rwandans on positive cultural values which had been lost during colonization. During Itorero sessions, trainings are adapted and tailored to the needs of specific participants. For example, the topics covered for teachers and health workers are related to their profession while while local leaders are trained in public service delivery and good governance.
The values promoted by Itorero include unity, patriotism, selflessness, integrity, responsibility, volunteerism, and humility. The program aims at training Rwandans to among others; better understand their shared values;be good and active citizens who are patriotic and who actively contribute to national development; tbe Intore who are worthy Rwandans at all levels of society and catalysts for positive change; acquire the culture of volunteerism through national service; promote respect for positive cultural values as a basis for coexistence and national development; collaborate with other public and private institutions and non-governmental organizations with similar objectives and ; prepare and monitor volunteerism through national service.
Itorero is important because it builds a society with a shared mindset and values that promote unity and patriotism as well as awareness of the goals of the country and how they can be achieved.
It also promotes respect for positive cultural values as a basis for co-existence and national development.
3. Ecosystem of the Non-Formal Citizenship Education
Umuganda, also known as community work with the purpose of contributing to the overall national development was reintroduced to Rwandan life in 1998 as part of efforts to rebuild the country after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Today, it takes place on the last Saturday of each month. The climax is the meeting of all participants and resolving some issues that affect them including , children, youth, community and individuals’.. In traditional Rwandan culture, members of the community would call upon their family, friends and neighbors to help them complete a difficult task. Umuganda is credited for contributing to Rwanda's development, particularly in the areas of infrastructure development, environmental protection and good governance.
Evening Parents Forum
Evening Parents forum is a support group in each village in Rwanda, where parents discuss challenges across a variety of topics, including health. The Evening Parents Forum is an initiative of the Government of Rwanda to encourage collaboration and discussion in villages about issues affecting family life, within the context of the longstanding Rwandan tradition of collective action. In this regard, women, men, children and youth meet and sh discuss issues not only focusing on family conflicts but also community development projects. For instance, in June 2018, the Ministry of Gender and Family promotion through The National Commission for Children distributed a booklet entitled 'Tuganire Mwana Wanjye' (Let us have a conversation my child) to 569 evening parents’ coordinators from Kibenga Cell, Mayange Sector in Bugesera District Eastern Rwanda.
The booklets were envisaged to help in educating parents to initiate a conversation with their children on Social Reproductive Health (SRH). Vestine Nakure who is a Parent Evening Forum Coordinator in Mayange Sector also emphasized the need for the booklet saying that they used to shy away from discussing sexual reproductive health and she was confident that the booklet would help them tequip parents with basic skills which enable them initiate family discussions around sexual reproductive health.
Community Health Worker program
Rwanda’s renowned national Community Health Worker (CHW) program was launched in 1995, shortly after the culmination of the genocide against Tutsi. When the CHW Program was introduced, the country’s social fabric was particularly unstable, health infrastructure destroyed and the reality of recent economic and productivity loses grim.
Implementation
The program began in 1995 with a network of 12,000 CHWs endorsed by the Ministry of Health. Rwanda has three CHWs (one Animatrice de Santé Maternelle [ASM] and one male-female pair of CHWs called a Binôme per village of approximately 50 to 150 households. These CHWs focus primarily on health promotion and referral activities. In the decade that followed, the CHW Program grew to 60,000 CHWs, before dropping to 45,000 following the elimination of the CHW in Charge of Social Affairs position.
The ASM identifies pregnant women, makes regular follow-up visits during and after pregnancy and ensures that deliveries take place in health facilities where skilled health workers are available. Binômes focus their activities on diagnosis and treatment of childhood illnesses, diagnosis and treatment of malaria for people of all ages, malnutrition screening and referral, provision of contraceptives and tuberculosis treatment.
Rwanda’s success in meeting many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for health – some far ahead of schedule – is important evidence of the strength of the country’s primary health care system. There is consensus internally (as well as externally) that Rwanda could not have achieved the MDGs for maternal and child health three years early without the support of the CHWs.
YouthConnekt
YouthConnekt is a unique, home-grown and innovative civic education initiative that connects youths to government employment, private sector as well as entrepreneurship opportunities and off-farm jobs. It provides a set of policies for youth empowerment, but also looks beyond to provide a virtual platform that connects youths, the private sector and the government through social media and events. The initiative is part of the Government’s goal to engage young people in building up the country and enhance their (economic) empowerment.
The programme has reached thousands of young Rwandans (aged 16-34) and contributed more than 4,000 off-farm jobs. YouthConnekt was endorsed by the African Union as a major implementing modality of their African Youth Charter. An important spinoff of the YouthConnekt initiative has been its popularization and scaling up, leading to the creation of YouthConnekt Africa (2017).
Due to the successes enumerated above, the program’’s innovative, participatory and holistic approach and its full respect for the Future Justice Principles, YouthConnekt was recognized with the Future Policy Gold Award 2019 for Economic Empowerment of Youth, awarded by the World Future Council in partnership with United Nations development Program (UNDP) and Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) and supported by International Labor Organization (ILO).
The children’s forum committees
The role of the children’s forum is to continuously give every child a platform to express his/her opinion and be heard. This means that every child who needs to communicate an issue or to ask a question about an issue is given space and opportunity to do so during these forums. The issue could be related to education, politics, health, friends, the country Rwanda, among others.
National Electoral Commission (NEC) Civic Education in partnership with international partners
In 2002, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the Consortium for Elections and Political Processes Strengthening (CEPPS), the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) supported the organization of a civic education on election conference in Rwanda.
A Civic Education Conference, organized jointly by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and IFES in Kigali reached the NEC objectives of ensuring the participation of governmental institutions as well as civil society organizations in the drafting of a national civic education campaign plan. The NEC took full advantage of IFES’ expertise to develop a National Plan for Civic and Electoral Education in Rwanda. Indeed, the presence of the President of Rwanda His Excellency Paul Kagame and the Prime Minister demonstrated the importance of civic education to the Rwandan government and workshop participants were no doubt motivated and inspired by their presence to develop the national plan for civic education.
The four consultants that IFES brought to the workshop delivered interesting, informed and effective presentations on the definitions, design and implementation of civic and electoral education. Almost all sectors of Rwandan society were represented at the conference. The participants shared their diverse experiences. These experiences contributed a wealth of ideas for the themes, contents and strategies incorporated in the final civic education plan. The conference’s environment allowed for a relatively free discussion of issues and concerns on the topic of civic education. Peace and tolerance was a constant theme in all discussions.
The National Plan for Civic and Electoral Education adopted by the workshop participants provided the government of Rwanda and its civil society and international partners with a framework for a civic education campaign. This campaign could provide much-needed electoral education in preparation for the 2003 presidential elections, as well as general civic education for the continued strengthening of Rwanda’s fledgling democracy.
Prior to the upcoming constitutional referendum, the Rwandan government and the Constitutional Commission were advised to address popular uncertainty about the constitution through the encouragement of participative discussions. The NEC was advised to promptly create the follow-up committee proposed at the conference to finalize the plan, mobilize the resources for its implementation, monitor and evaluate its results. IFES said that they were prepared to assist its Rwandan partners in the implementation of the recommendations included in the report.
4. Legal Environment and Institutional framework
Article 2 paragraph 2 of the Constitution of Rwanda stipulates that all Rwandans, both women and men, fulfilling the requirements provided for by law, have the right to vote and to be elected.
Article 10 the Constitution of Rwanda stipulates that the State of Rwanda commits itself to upholding and ensuring respect for the following fundamental principles:
(a) Prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide, fight against denial and revisionism of genocide as well as eradication of genocide ideology and all its manifestations;
(b) eradication of discrimination and divisionism based on ethnicity, region or any other ground, as well as promotion of national unity;
(c) Equitable power-sharing;
(d) building a State governed by the rule of law, a pluralistic democratic Government, equality of all Rwandans and between women and men which is affirmed by women occupying at least 30% of positions in decision-making organs;
(e) Building a State committed to promoting social welfare and establishing appropriate mechanisms for equal opportunity to social justice;
(f) Constant quest for solutions through dialogue and consensus.
Article 34 of the Constitution of Rwanda stipulats that everyone has the right to private property, whether individually or collectively owned.
5. Stakeholders
In Rwanda, Government has put in place among others, the National Itorero Commission which oversees the biggest and most active Civic education programs. Other stakeholders include, the Ministry of National Unity & Civic Engagement called MINUBUMWE. The mission of MINUBUMWE is to preserve historical memory, to reinforce national unity, and to promote citizenship education and culture; Imbuto Foundation, which is mainly in charge of promoting gender equality especially promotion of the rights of the girl child; the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Gender; the National Electoral Commission; United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the Consortium for Elections and Political Processes Strengthening (CEPPS) and; the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES).