Rwanda

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the commemoration of the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, in New York today:

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, observed on 7 April:

The United Nations takes note of the recent decision by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, to resign, to “allow further political reforms to take place in the country aimed at widening democratic space”.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is calling for calm and restraint after reports of a refugee protest turning violent in Rwanda’s Kiziba refugee camp.  The camp hosts over 17,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, around 77 per cent of which are women and children.

The World Food Programme (WFP) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) appealed today to donors after they were forced to reduce food rations and cash assistance for more than 100,000 refugees in Rwanda.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks on the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda, in New York today:

The Secretary-General said that he has been following the situation in Syria closely and with grave concern.  Mindful of the risk of escalation — following reports of the United States air strikes against the Shayrat Airbase in Syria — he appealed for restraint to avoid any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people.