The United Nations has opened an exhibition titled "Survival and Remembrance: A Call to Action for Genocide Prevention," featuring images and testimonies of genocide survivors from Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and the Holocaust.
The exhibition aims to educate visitors about the importance of recognizing early warning signs of genocide and taking action to prevent it, and will be on display until June 15.
The exhibition includes testimony from Mukantaganira Immaculee, a survivor of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, who recounted the horrors of the genocide and the loss of family members and friends.
The exhibition is a call to action for genocide prevention and is aimed at inspiring visitors to take action and make a difference in the fight against genocide.
In his speech at the opening, Rwanda's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Robert Kayinamura, emphasized the need to remember the victims and rebuild a united society that looks forward to a better future for generations.
"They were people who lived everyday lives like we do, they deserved a long and fruitful life. We must never forget and let their untimely demise go in vain. We must be deliberate in rebuilding a united society that looks forward to a better future for generations."
The Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, stressed that denial of atrocity crimes and survivors' accounts is unacceptable and must be condemned and countered.
The exhibition also includes information about the UN's role in preventing genocide, as well as the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech launched in 2019. The strategy recognizes that hate speech is a precursor to atrocity crimes, including genocide, and aims to address the root causes and drivers of hate speech in a coordinated way, with a focus on education as a preventive tool to raise awareness and build unity.