Apr 7, 2022
What is "Genocide''?
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What is "Genocide''?
Lessons from the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda
Marking The International Day of Reflection on the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda 2021
Join a virtual panel discussion on the topic of Hate speech and the prevention of genocide through education hosted by UNESCO, jointly with the Permanent Delegation of Rwanda to UNESCO. Finci-Viterbi Executive Director Stephen Smith will be joined by many experts from around the world during this virtual panel discussion marking International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
From Hate Speech to Genocide
Dr Stephen Smith, Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute, was appointed on 3 October holder of a new UNESCO Chair for Genocide Education.The Chair will engage in international cooperation to promote education and research about the history of genocide and mass atrocities, providing new impetus to the USC Shoah Foundation Institute's important international academic and educational programmes. The USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive contains nearly 52,000 testimonies of survivors and witnesses to the Holocaust.
Promote education and research about the history of genocide and mass atrocities
The commemoration is being organized by UNESCO and the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation UNESCO Chair on Genocide Education, with the Permanent Delegation of Rwanda to UNESCO, in partnership with the United Nations Department of Global Communications and Global Action Against Mass Atrocity Crimes (GAAMAC). The genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, perpetrated by the Hutu extremist-led government, took place from April-July 1994. Within just over 100 days, more than 800,000 members of the Tutsi minority were systematically murdered. Moderate Hutu and others who opposed the massacres were also killed during this period.The event pays tribute to the victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and to express solidarity with survivors. It aims to develop understanding about the particular role of hate speech leading up to and in the context of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and foster awareness of risk factors, and especially hate speech, which could heighten the likelihood of atrocity crimes occurring. In addition, the event considers education’s potential to contribute to the prevention of genocide by promoting awareness of the causes and consequences of genocide and by building resilience against prejudice and hate speech.Watch the event live: English – French
UNESCO is committed to promote education about genocides as a means to sensitize learners for the causes, dynamics and consequences of such crimes and to strengthen their resilience against all forms of discrimination.
Raising awareness of the lasting impact of the genocide on survivors, particularly widows, orphans and victims of sexual violence, and the challenges that they still face today.
In 1994, in the space of three months, about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in Rwanda in what came to be known as the Rwanda genocide. In 1995, the UN called for an outreach program entitled “The Rwanda Genocide and the United Nations” and “to take measures to mobilize civil society for Rwanda genocide victim remembrance and education” to help prevent future acts of genocide. The Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Rwanda Genocide has been observed each year since 2004, 10 years after the genocide took place.