Students from St Andrews University based in the UK are visiting to learn from Rwanda’s progress in post conflict reconstruction.
Led by Dr. Hazel Cameron, a lecturer in Criminology and Genocide studies and currently the Director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, the delegation include four professors and eleven post graduate students.
During discussions, Dr. Hazel Cameron disclosed St. Andrews University’s partnership with Rwanda that will see an unlimited number of PhD scholarships offered to Rwandan students interested in International studies.
Speaking to the delegation on Rwanda’s progress, President Kagame pointed to homegrown solutions as key to achievements.
“We have very high ambitions and scarce resources. Before we go out begging for things we may never get, we have to ask ourselves, have we exhausted the resources around us? This is how homegrown solutions start,” said Kagame.
With the majority of students interested in post conflict reconstruction, President Kagame explained the reasons that led Rwanda to choose reconciliation over revenge:
“If you are fighting injustice and get to where you want to be, it is absolutely wrong to be the same person to practice injustice.”
“With a leadership that gives people a chance to forgive and think more about future than past, any society can overcome,” President Kagame added.
On challenges that have shaped Rwanda, the President shared part of the vision that led to the liberation of the country:
“Born in exile, living as refugees, we could not stay stateless forever. We could not give up. We chose to address the situation.”
“We are moving ahead, learning from what works and what doesn’t work and adjusting without losing sight of our goals,” he added referring to Rwanda’s vision for the future.
The group come to Rwanda to understand Rwanda’s decentralization process, good governance policy and home grown solutions which have so far enabled Rwanda to attain economic, social and development transformation in last two decades.
According Cameron, who also teaches optional module called “Civil War, Genocide of Tutsi and Transformation Rwanda at University of St Andrews, the group will learn from the experience of Rwanda’s good governance policies which have made Rwanda different from other African under developed countries.