This program is designed to mobilize civil society « to preserve the memory of the victims of the Rwandan genocide in order to help prevent future genocide».
Initially, this day was called the International Day of Remembrance of the Rwanda Genocide, but on January 26, 2018, the UN General Assembly adopted a draft resolution proclaiming April 7 as the International Day of Remembrance of the Tutsi Genocide in Rwanda in 1994, recalling that During the genocide, Tutsis in 1994 also killed members of the Hutu ethnic group and others who resisted the genocide.
The events dedicated to the international date took place in Rwanda in 1994, when the interim government, which came to power as a result of a military coup, began to destroy people whom — considered its enemies, both politically and ethnically. The number of people killed in a hundred days ranged, according to various sources, from half a million to a million people.
The UN resolution recognizes the many difficulties faced by survivors of the 1994 genocide, and also encourages member states of the organization to provide assistance to victims of misconduct by the interim government.
The United Nations is implementing this programme in Africa and in other regions of the world. The program includes memorial ceremonies, «-round tables», screening of films, organizing exhibitions and discussions. For educational purposes, information materials have been developed on two main issues: preventing genocide and supporting victims of violence.
«We all bear collective and individual responsibility for the prevention of genocide. The victims of the genocide in Rwanda have made us face the unsightly reality of an avoidable tragedy. The only way to truly honor the memory of those who died in Rwanda 17 years ago, — is to prevent similar events from ever happening again in the future», — said the 8th UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on April 7, 2011.