Partner Spotlight: Educator's Institute for Human Rights' Work in Rwanda
/Background: Educators’ Institute for Human Rights (EIHR)
The Educators' Institute for Human Rights (EIHR) envisions cultivating partnerships among educators globally to create materials and deliver training based on the best practices in Holocaust and human rights education. EIHR alongside partners worldwide delivers content and strategies for teaching conflict history and prevention, and sustainable peace. EIHR currently has a strong presence in war-torn countries that have experienced genocide and other forms of mass killings. These include Rwanda, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, and Argentina.
The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi left the social fabric of Rwandan society in ruins. After the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, the Rwandan education system was revolutionized and its curricula is now a good vehicle of universal values that include tolerance and genocide prevention. This curriculum also embraces content about other genocides including the Holocaust. Unfortunately, the challenges confronted by the entire world of educators did not spare Rwandan teachers. Since 2011, EIHR has been supporting teachers’ understanding of the history of mass atrocities, including the Holocaust, such that they can draw important lessons of tolerance, justice, and respect for human rights in order to apply them in their day-to-day lives.
Teacher trainings in Rwanda
Teachers at the completion of an EIHR training program in Rwanda
After EIHR’s first conference here in Rwanda in 2011, one of the most important outcomes was the creation of former Rwandan Genocide Teachers Association. This evolved into Peace Education Initiative (Peacedu), a platform originally bringing together Rwandan teachers committed to teaching about the genocide. Today, Peacedu educates youth around issues of peace and human rights education. They continue to work with genocide survivors in the eastern part of Rwanda. From 2011-2015, EIHR-led trainings attracted over 120 teachers, primarily teaching History and Social Sciences.
In 2016, EIHR led a series of teacher trainings in the eastern, southern and western parts of Rwanda for 148 teachers from both primary and secondary divisions. In 2017, based on the teachers’ suggestions, where many indicated that they wanted additional and more focused training, a few participants were carefully selected to participate in a . training at Kigali Genocide Memorial (organized in collaboration with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). In this two-day training in January 2020, 30 participants representing each district were carefully selected based on the requirements clearly outlined. Later that year, another three-day training happened and participants left the training with a commitment of organizing some activities on the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which happens every year on 27 January. This workshop happened in the presence of HE Ron Adam, Ambassador of the State of Israel to Rwanda, attracted the National Television of Rwanda coverage and article of The New Times Rwanda, another leading daily newspaper.
All these achievements have been realized through strong partnerships that EIHR has been nurturing for a decade: they include but are not limited to: Aegis Trust Rwanda, Holocaust Education Trust Ireland, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Anne Frank House Amsterdam, and Yad Vashem, among others.
EIHR’s forthcoming strategy and regional expansion
Based on these great lessons, EIHR is launching Teacher Corps, a program that will create an opportunity to better equip Rwandan teachers with the skills and support to become global leaders in the field of Holocaust and genocide education. The initiative will also build equity by training teachers who live outside the capital city, Kigali, and by seeking gender equity among EIHR Teacher Corps candidates.
Firstly, trainees are familiarized with methodology for teaching about genocide and mass atrocities in a school environment. They are made aware of some of the main challenges faced by educators when approaching such subjects, including when engaging with comparative approaches of genocide.
Secondly, the program is building depth of programming based on past success in Rwanda to create a cohort of teacher leaders prepared for collaborative learning, project development, and school community engagement. The intention is that the first group of 10-12 teachers will serve as leaders in their own communities throughout Rwanda, not only with their students but also providing training to colleagues and setting an example of excellence for subsequent EIHR Teacher Corps cohorts. They will serve as resources in Holocaust and genocide education as mandated by the Rwandan government, reaching between 400-600 students directly per teacher.
Thirdly, they will build breadth of programming by establishing an effective, replicable model for adaptation and application in other post-conflict settings globally. Specifically, we hope to bring this program to our other program settings, building teacher leader communities in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, and other EIHR partner regions. In time, our goal is to bring the global members of the EIHR Teacher Corps together with experts, scholars, and other practitioners in the field for a conference devoted to creative, inclusive solutions for sustainable peace.
All in all, EIHR has been achieving significant milestones since 2011. These milestones are also being replicated in other countries that have experienced mass atrocities and feedback from teachers and other different partners has been favorable. After ten years, developing more partnerships with like-minded organizations that support EIHR’s work and mission will remain highly critical. Additionally, initiatives that target more teachers and education communities will take precedence as many teaching professionals have been requesting EIHR’s training package.
The Bylo Chacon Foundation is a proud partner of EIHR.
About the author: As manager of the Bylo Chacon Foundation’s key relationships in East Africa, Aimable Mpayimana embraces the foundation’s philosophies and values while supporting and collaborating with different grant partners on strategic orientation and knowledge sharing. He also collaborates with the Woven Teaching team on human rights education projects, including the development of lesson plans around the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.