LawsonThe Prime Minister of Norway visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial on 3 July whilst in Rwanda as part of a regional visit to South Africa and Malawi to promote education and equal access to education for boys and girls. Together with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Prime Minister Solberg co-chairs the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Advocacy Group.
“One cannot visit the Memorial without feeling really sad”, she said. “We need to do much more at the international level to prevent these atrocities from happening again”, she added explaining that “no one can commit genocide if he/she thinks that the victim is also a human being”. “To commit genocide, you must have another state of mind that helps you dehumanise and ultimately commit the crime”.
After praising Rwanda for its efforts on social issues such as maternity and health as well as the education system that she defined as “impressive”, the Prime Minister of Norway committed further support in those areas.
As she was asked about a message she wanted to share with Rwandans and youth in particular, she stressed the importance of memory. “Remember; do not forget and make sure that it will never happen again”.
The Aegis Trust’s Director of Programmes, John Petrie, thanked her saying that with so many visitors to the Kigali Genocide Memorial each year, including many international leaders, “it is important that they take the message of “never again” with them and spread that message”.
