Valentine Rugwabiza

"Good leaders change bad attitudes, and open up opportunities. I recommend that countries with high numbers of peacekeeping forces, such as Rwanda, should collaborate and share best practices and strategies. Success stories bring other success stories"

"I made a point of asking for a readjustment of the concept of our force (...) The main thing is to adopt a proactive and preventive posture of exactions on civilian populations based on reliable information,"

"I wish to express our most sincere appreciation to all of you for your selfless service and dedication to duty, that has earned you the medals; this is illustrative of your character and performance in the execution of your mission.’"

"We wish to call for an expedited trial so that the justice that has been delayed for more than two decades can finally be delivered"

"These developments are a clear demonstration that justice can be rendered where there is political will to extend judicial cooperation to bring to justice those responsible for crimes against humanity"

"Failure to comply with the UN and AU resolutions and decisions to cooperate and bring to justice genocide fugitives has a negative impact on the maintenance of peace and security, which should be obvious to this Council"

"The government of Rwanda welcomes the prosecution of those who interfere with witnesses with an aim to revise established facts. We agree with the Prosecutor that such contempt of court is a form of genocide denial and those found guilty of it must face the force of the law,"

"The task of fighting impunity and denial is the responsibility of all member states. It should be at the heart of the United Nations."

"We applaud member states who have put in place laws that criminalize the trivialization of the Genocide against the Tutsi and all crimes against humanity. We call on others to enact such laws"

"I can’t think of a more deserving awardee for the first Raphael Lemkin Award than yourself. By reminding us all there is no genocide without the participation of neighbours, it means that there is also no prevention of genocide without the active involvement of neighbours"

"“It’s been 25 years, and people tend to forget or think that maybe with time it gets better, but healing and time are two different things.” For survivors, the genocide is as clear as yesterday,""

"The credibility of the MICT and its legacy and contribution to the fight against impunity for crimes of genocide are at stake"

"The purpose of the annual commemoration at the United Nations is to continue to raise awareness of the international community about our collective responsibility to prevent genocide from happening anywhere in the world"

"Last but not least, we need to ensure that our post conflict reconstruction and peace building capabilities are properly deployed to ensure institutional capacity that would help prevent the relapse into conflict"

"Rwanda would be a different story today, if the post-genocide Government did not invest much in forging a new Rwanda, successful in ensuring inclusivity and equal opportunities of all its citizens, overcoming ethnic divisions, engaging reconciliation and restorative justice as well as recover trust in state institutions"

"We should focus on adding value to our products, with a view to increase the exportation of high-end products and increase competitiveness. We want our manufacturing sector to grow, we want to be able to tap into the regional market, to consume more of what we produce,"

"All these actions show that justice is possible if there is a political will to cooperate in bringing to justice all people who are involved in acts that attack humanity.(Ibi bikorwa byose biragaragaza ko ubutabera bushoboka ahari ubushake bwa politiki bwo gufatanya mu gushyikiriza ubutabera abantu bose bagira uruhare mu bikorwa byibasira inyoko muntu”.)"

"some member countries of this community have difficulty working with the Prosecutor's Office so that the suspects of supernatural crimes are arrested and brought to justice, but they consider it normal to get the money from the taxes of their citizens to be used for the well-being of those who have been opened for many years and after being acquitted.Together, the dependents and other beneficiaries have been paid by the ICTR, which later became the Ministry, for more than ten years. How the continued payment is made by the Department itself is unclear. Rwanda feels that it is unclear and therefore should be stopped.(Ibihugu bimwe bigize uyu muryango bigorwa no gukorana n’Ibiro by’Ubushinjacyaha ngo abakekwaho ibyaha ndengakamere bafatwe bashyikirizwe ubutabera, ariko bikabifata nk’ibisanzwe kubona amafaranga ava mu misoro y’abaturage babyo akoreshwa mu kubeshaho neza abafunguwe mu myaka myinshi na nyuma yo kugirwa abere.Hamwe na hamwe ibibatunga n’ibindi bagenerwa byagiye byishyurwa na ICTR nyuma biza kuba Urwego, mu myaka isaga icumi. Uko gukomeza kubyishyura bikozwe n’Urwego ubwabyo ntibyumvikana. U Rwanda rwumva ko bidasobanutse bityo bikwiye guhagarara)"

"MINUSCA continues to support Government efforts to “decentralize” the peace process with armed groups, including recent initiatives to extend state presence in areas that have been stabilized through the Mission’s assistance."

"The strength and commitment of international financial partners and development actors in this regard remains central in order to build on the security gains that were so dearly obtained, be that through investments or stabilization programmes aimed at providing basic services, or through socio-economic lasting subsistence measures for the population,"

"These results once again illustrate the effectiveness of concerted efforts, even if much remains to be done, including with regard to strengthening the capacities of national security and defense institutions,"

"In order to preserve the values of the United Nations and maintain the trust of the population everywhere that we operate, MINUSCA will continue to strengthen prevention and risk management of risks of sexual exploitation and abuse by working with the country team at the United Nations in order to assist victims that have been identified,”"

"MINUSCA is planning to implement recommendations made in a recent global assessment of logistical capacity “if we are given the budget”, appealing to the Council for support."

"I'm deeply grateful to the government of Rwanda because what has been achieved in this country, what is being achieved, or some of the achievements, as I just shared with you, are achievements of Rwanda. And Rwanda should be proud of [the achievements]."

"The Central African population is a very resilient population. It has gone through a lot. But whenever I have the opportunity, and I create those opportunities and make it a point of creating those opportunities – every month, I undertake a visit to the field outside Bangui."

"Without a single doubt, it is appreciated by the population because they are the beneficiaries of those activities. But to be fair, we do have a number of other contingents that undertake activities such as having medical days where they provide medical services to people in the communities where they are deployed. So, we do have a few other contingents that provide such activities. And it is appreciated by the population. I believe that while it is appreciated, those are ad hoc activities. We need, and that is the other part of my responsibilities as Special Representative of the Secretary-General, to make sure that we also mobilize all the agencies of the UN country team. They are doing quite a lot, but [we need to] mobilize and mobilize resources so that they can do much more, and instead of having ad-hoc activities, make sure that we all work together to empower the population to conduct the activities for themselves."

"I think looking at, you know, thinking about your question more specifically, one needs to look at [the fact that] peacekeeping cannot do everything. Peacekeeping has its own limitations. And one needs to look, more specifically, at the limitations of peacekeeping, and then be able to leverage some bilateral partnerships where peacekeeping cannot act. I do believe that members will have to start thinking about that. But again, not my call."

"A peacekeeping mission can never be a substitute to what is the primary responsibility of the country, which is to secure its territory and to secure its people. Now, having said that it is clear that it takes time."

"it is to ensure that we really implement optimally the mandate that is given to us. That mandate is a mandate of support to the Central African authorities and to the Central African people. We cannot support the Central African authorities and people without working with the Central Africans. So, I'm also very regularly in touch with the authorities at all levels of the governmen"