An event in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, to commemorate the genocide of 1994.
Africa’s Great Lakes region is marked by violent conflict, migration and constantly recurring dynamics of violence. The experience has traumatised the people, and the failure to properly address their suffering has exacerbated the propensity for violence – and the potential for further conflict.
The Rwandan genocide of 1994, which left more than 800,000 people dead, was an incisive event. It destabilised the entire region. Many Rwandan refugees gathered across the border in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). New armed groups formed in the confusing scenario. In 1996, the First Congo War erupted, marking the start of an enormous military confrontation, and conflicts over land, natural resources and power continue to this day.