ex ns Educational, d Cultural Organization Executive Board Hundred and forty-fifth Session 145 EX/37 PARIS, 11 October 1994 Original: English/French Item 8.3 of the provisional agenda IMPLEMENTATION OF 144 EX/DECISION 4.1, PART V, CONCERNING THE SITUATION IN RWANDA SUMMARY In this document, the Director-General reports to the Executive Board on the measures he has taken to implement 144 EX/Decision 4.1, Part V.
145 EX/37 Introduction 1. The events in Rwanda have been exceptionally horrific. The number of people affected by the initial wave of massacres and the ensuing conflict is staggering by any standards. In addition to 300,000-500,000 people killed, more than 2 million persons have been displaced internally and close to 1 million have fled across the country s borders into Burundi, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire. These figures should be seen against the background of Rwanda s pre-war population of 7.5 million. 2. The conflict has inevitably had disastrous implications in every area of day-to-day life in Rwanda. Thus, the entire education system has been paralysed. The health system, already strained by high infant and maternal mortality rates and the AIDS epidemic, has been severely hit. 3. The emphasis in the early weeks of the emergency was on basic needs - water, food, shelter and health care. Aid agencies continue with this emergency relief work in the refugee camps as well as in the displaced persons camps within the country. An improvement in the security situation within the country has made it possible for rehabilitation activities to operate in conjunction with the emergency programmes. 4. Having learned of the tragic events taking place in Rwanda, the Executive Board at its 144th session decided to invite the Director-General: (a) to ascertain the damage to educational and cultural institutions and property in the country and to draw up, in co-operation with the Rwandese authorities and international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, a programme of practical assistance in respect of such institutions and property; (b) to consider as a matter of urgency concrete ways in which UNESCO can help children of school age, in their education, to overcome the harmful effects of the tragedy taking place in that country; (c) to conduct an in-depth study, within UNESCO s fields of competence, on the causes of, and solutions to, the recurrent and devastating conflicts in the region; (d) to establish for that purpose a working group of specialists recognized both within and outside Africa. 5. This document reports on the developments which have taken place since the 144th session. Education 6. In June 1994, the Director-General entrusted the Education Team in Somalia with the task of providing emergency assistance in the field of education to Rwandese refugees. The Teacher Emergency Package (TEP), was immediately adapted into Kinyarwanda, and by the end of June 300 kits had been produced. TEP contains basic education materials for 40 pupils and has a training component using trainers, through a system of networking, to train teachers in the use and methodology of TEPs and its implementation. A needs assessment was conducted in the Benaco and Lumasi refugee camps in Ngara (United Republic of Tanzania) identifying approximately 30,000 primary-school children and over 1,000 teachers. A core
145 EX/37 - page 2 group of 15 trainers were recruited and trained and a training centre was established to train teachers in the camps. The distribution and implementation of TEPs in Ngara serving 350 classes started on 15 September to coincide with the beginning of the school year. The strategy is education for repatriation, as part of the agreed policy with UNHCR, hence the equity of approach for education inside the country and in refugee camps. A memorandum of understanding between the Tanzanian Government, UNICEF, UNHCR, GTZ and UNESCO on emergency education for Rwandese refugee children in the United Republic of Tanzania was signed in July 1994. 7. The Director-General has allocated US $200,000 from the regular programme and budget for emergency education programmes for the Rwandese refugees, in addition to US $100,000 allotted from the Participation Programme s Emergency Assistance. Two temporary posts for education specialists were established for UNESCO s Rwandese operations, and specialists from Headquarters and BREDA were sent on missions to assist in the operations. 8. Furthermore, an agreement was reached locally with the International Jewish Fund for Disaster Relief for the construction of 40 schools in the Benaco and Lumasi camps. The schools are staffed and organized as they had been prior to the eruption of the present crisis, in order to facilitate the repatriation of teaching staff and the rehabilitation of the school system. Rwandese curriculum textbooks and teacher guides were collected among the refugees, and UNESCO, in co-operation with UNICEF, has developed school sets, based on existing curricula, for use in the refugee camps. These are being produced on a large scale for future use in the Rwandese education system. 9. An agreement was also established between UNESCO, UNHCR, UNICEF and ECHO for a crossborder and refugee camp educational programme, similar to the one developed in Ngara, for Kabale in southern Uganda. 10. In July 1994, UNESCO undertook a needs assessment mission for ongoing activities directed at Burundi refugees in the Ngara region and the Teacher Emergency Package was adapted into Kirundi. 11. The UNESCO Office in Zaire is undertaking an assessment on the possibilities of implementing an emergency education programme in the refugee camps in Zaire. 12. In co-operation with UNICEF, UNESCO launched an emergency education programme with the Teacher Emergency Package in Rwanda in August. A group of 65 teachers were trained to implement TEP in the country and teachers have been trained in five of the 11 prefectures. An Education Development Centre (EDC) was started at the Centre Pidagogique in Kigali. A damage assessment on the place was carried out, the area was secured and cleaned, and staff have been recruited. 13. In August 1994, the easing of tension in Rwanda allowed the United Nations to start the assessment of the educational infrastructure in the country. UNESCO, in co-operation with the Rwandese authorities, UNICEF and non-governmental organizations, started assessing the educational infrastructure in late August. A rehabilitation programme for the education system has been launched in co-operation with UNICEF, and the Director-General has allocated US $300,000 from the regular programme and budget for this purpose. A UNESCO architect undertook a mission in September to assess the physical infrastructure of the national school system. A draft strategy for the reconstruction of the Rwandese education system was prepared
145 EX/37 - page 3 in co-operation with Mineprisec and the Ministry of Higher Education. The Director-General has, furthermore, proposed to send a team of 200 teachers, when the situation permits, in order to assist in the reconstruction of the education system in Rwanda. The Education Sector met with the Rwandese Ministers of Education during the International Conference on Education, in October, in Geneva to prepare a comprehensive plan of reconstruction for the education system in Rwanda. 14. In conjunction with the introduction of TEP, a Cholera campaign and a Mine Awareness Campaign for schoolchildren have been initiated. Furthermore an Education for Peace programme is being developed that can be implemented with both TEP and the reconstruction phase of the overall strategy. A consultant in the field of social psychology and communication was engaged to undertake an analysis and propose a range of strategies. In addition, co-ordinated work with the UNICEF specialist in psycho-social trauma in children has been initiated. 15. Agreements with the United Nations Volunteers, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Jesuit Refugee Service have been established to provide education specialists to assist in UNESCO s operations in the Rwandese emergency. Cuiture 16. The Director-General will launch a mission of experts in order to assess damage to cultural institutions in Rwanda and draw up a programme for rehabilitation as soon as the situation permits. Communication 17. The Director-General has allotted US $40,000 from the regular programme to contribute to a project implemented by Reporters sans front&es aimed at establishing a humanitarian radio station broadcasting practical information relating to the basic survival needs of the population. Programmes are produced by a team of Rwandese journalists, both Hutu and Tutsi. The station started broadcasting from Goma, Zaire on 5 August 1994, from the south of the country on 8 August and from Kigali in late August. 18. The United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA) has proposed that UNESCO assume, jointly with DHA, the responsibility for establishing a United Nations radio station. The UNESCO Regional Communications Adviser has visited Kigali in order to ascertain the needs for upgrading the FM capacity of Radio Kigali in order to broadcast messages related to non-formal educational programmes (e.g. Cholera campaign and Mine Awareness and Education for Peace). OPI will also contribute to these efforts aiming at the production of radio programmes in Rwanda on culture for peace, human rights, democracy and tolerance. A working group has been established with a view to proposing a strategy for UNESCO s overall activities in the area of communication for the Rwandese emergency. Science 19. The Science Sector, in co-operation with OPU, has assisted the Australian company MEMTEC in offering a mobile water generator to one of the refugee camps. The water generator has the capacity of filtering 8,000 litres of water per day.
145 EX/37 - page 4 Transport will be provided by the US Army and UNHCR will be responsible for running the generator in the refugee camp. Public Information 20. The Office of Public Information (OPI) has begun to implement a plan of action to promote the activities that UNESCO is carrying out in the wake of events in Rwanda, in particular for refugees. 21. OPI has given wide publicity to the various appeals launched by the Director-General for assistance to Rwanda and the press releases concerning, respectively, the allocation of $500,000 for refugees, the Director-General s project to provide the international community with a faster and more effective means of humanitarian intervention and the start of broadcasts by the radio station Reporters sans fronti&es supported by the Organization. An audio-visual report on this last initiative has been produced for CNN World Report. 22. A report on the educational action that UNESCO is developing in support of the refugees has just been completed. It has been published by Sources and is the subject of both a special file for the Executive Board and a video. The audio-visual material produced will make it possible to put together a theme for broadcasting by CNN and to provide pictures for various television stations, especially African ones. 23. With the aim of mobilizing public support for the emergency operations, visits by journalists to the sites where UNESCO is working have begun and will be stepped up. Co-ordination of UNESCO s activities 24. A working group at Headquarters, chaired by ADG/DRG, has been established for the co-ordination of UNESCO s activities in the Rwandese emergency. Its secretariat is ensured by -Lhe Emergency Operations Unit (OPU). Acting as a focal point, OPU has established daily contact with UNESCO s team in the field, The Director-General has extended the mandate of the educational team in Somalia to cover Rwanda as well. The team has offices in Nairobi. United Nations consolidated inter-agency appeal 25. The United Nations consolidated inter-agency appeal for the Rwandese emergency, July- December 1994, contains an appeal of US $4,900,000 for education. The UNESCO component is for US $250,000 for technical assistance. However, UNESCO is working in close co-operation with UNICEF in the implementation of all the education programmes in Rwanda. 26. As a follow-up to the appeal, DHA organized a pledging conference at the beginning of August. UNESCO presented a document to the conference containing four education projects Llnd one communication project for Rwanda as a complement to the UNESCO component in the appeal. Study on the causes, and solutions to the conflicts in the region 27. ADG/SHS has undertaken the responsibility to establish a working group of specialists recognized both within and outside Africa, to undertake an in-depth study, within the Organization s fields of competence, on the causes of, and solutions to, the recurrent and devastating conflicts in the region.
145 EX/37 - page 5 Appeal to the Member States to offer assistance 28. The Director-General has taken every opportunity to recall the appeal of the Executive Board to the Member States to provide material assistance to the victims of the conflict in Rwanda. DRG/OPU is at the disposal of the Member States to provide technical support for all such assistance.