UN Volunteers activities 1996-2001

• UNV carried out projects aimed at enhancing the income-generating activities of mainly female genocide victims. UN Volunteers field workers helped reorganize and restructure 720 community-based and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) resulting in the development of many local enterprises. The development of training modules also enabled project participants to be trained in literacy, beekeeping, sewing, joinery, soap making, agriculture, and the breeding of fish, cattle and goats.
• Volunteers organized an intensive 48-day literacy training programme resulting in 224 project partners receiving reading and writing skills. Training manuals were developed and copies were distributed to the project partners.
• Twenty-two UN Volunteers served as professors at the National University of Rwanda and the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology. UNV's presence contributed substantially to the resumption of teaching activities at the post-secondary level.
• Two volunteers assisted the Ministry of Finance and Economy in expanding the state and public investment budget. They were also instrumental in the drafting of the National Human Development report.
• Volunteers established a legal assistance and representation fund to support the Kigali Bar Association in its efforts to help genocide accused and civil claimants in genocide trials.

UN Volunteers' current contribution to Rwanda
Currently, there are 13 UN Volunteers in Rwanda serving with UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). They are:

• providing information and communications technology (ICT) support under the framework of the Cisco-Learning Academies Programme;
• supporting other UN agencies and programmes (one UN Volunteer works as an operations officer with UNFPA);
• promoting nutrition and food security; and
• protecting the rights of refugees and internally displaced persons by providing expertise in the field of protection work, logistics and public information.

Rwanda's contribution to UN Volunteers
Twenty-six Rwandans are abroad as UN Volunteers, supporting the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). The remaining volunteers are assigned in Burundi, South Africa and Tajikistan.

Promoting of volunteerism
During IYV 2001, many volunteer associations in Rwanda were created with support from the central African country's national steering committee. This allowed for the mobilization of all social classes in the country around the year's objectives. Continuing the theme of IYV, a solidarity camp gathering more than 100 participants was organized from 2-7 September 2002 in the City of Gisenyi. Discussion at the camp focused on the role of youth and volunteerism, the promotion of peace and reconciliation, and the mobilization of volunteers in communities. The camp, funded by the Belgian Government, proved to be an effective method in continuing the momentum started by IVY 2001.