Itorero ry'Igihugu and Ndi Umunyarwanda

1Why this matters

After 1994 Rwanda looked to its own history for tools to rebuild unity and values. Two of the most important are Itorero ry'Igihugu, a school of civic values revived from pre-colonial Rwanda, and Ndi Umunyarwanda ("I am Rwandan"), a programme that puts a shared national identity first. You may take part in both.

2Itorero ry'Igihugu

In pre-colonial Rwanda, the itorero was a traditional school where young people learned the nation's culture and values: patriotism, courage, public speaking, dance and poetry, and military skills. Its graduates were called intore ("the chosen ones").

Revival: the government revived Itorero in 2007 as a national programme of civic education. Today Itorero trains students, teachers, leaders and other groups. It is linked to Urugerero, a national service in which young people carry out community projects.

Values Itorero promotes include:

• patriotism (gukunda igihugu);
• unity (ubumwe);
• integrity (ubunyangamugayo);
• hard work and self-reliance;
• selflessness and service to others;
• respect for human dignity and rejection of divisionism.

3Ndi Umunyarwanda

Ndi Umunyarwanda was launched in 2013, growing out of youth dialogues held that year. Its aims are:

• to build a shared identity in which being Rwandan comes before any other label;
• to create safe spaces where people talk openly about the country's history, including the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and what led to it;
• to help heal wounds, build trust, and encourage people to ask for and offer forgiveness;
• to give every Rwandan a responsibility for unity and the future.

Today both programmes are coordinated by the Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement (MINUBUMWE), created in 2021.

4Impact and challenges

Worked example: explaining a programme

Question: How does Ndi Umunyarwanda promote social cohesion?

It reverses the logic of the colonial identity card. Where the card told Rwandans that their ethnic label came first, Ndi Umunyarwanda says that being Rwandan comes first. By holding honest dialogues about history, it helps people understand one another's pain, rebuild trust and take shared responsibility for unity.

Practice

Solution. A traditional school where young people learned culture, values, public speaking, the arts and military skills. Its graduates were called intore.

Solution. A national service, linked to Itorero, in which young people carry out community projects.

Solution. Any two of: build a shared Rwandan identity; hold open dialogues about history; help heal wounds and build trust; give everyone responsibility for unity.

Solution. For example: reaching everyone; measuring changes in attitude; trauma; genocide ideology and false information online.