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The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

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“equal pay for equal training <strong>and</strong> competence”. More or less open<br />

warfare breaks out between the colonizer <strong>and</strong> the colonized. From<br />

now on, everything moves very quickly, leading the country in<strong>to</strong><br />

violence. <strong>The</strong> Rw<strong>and</strong>ans, having failed <strong>to</strong> identify their problem,<br />

make themselves violent. <strong>The</strong> Supreme Council dem<strong>and</strong>s that the<br />

assumption <strong>of</strong> the <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> chief <strong>and</strong> sub-chief be subject <strong>to</strong> election.<br />

This claim is repeated in 1959, <strong>to</strong>gether with a timetable for<br />

the country’s move <strong>to</strong>wards au<strong>to</strong>nomy <strong>and</strong> independence.<br />

March 24, 1957: A Bahutu Manifes<strong>to</strong> supported by the Belgian authorities<br />

<strong>and</strong> the Catholic Church through Archbishop André Perraudin<br />

challenges the privileges <strong>of</strong> the Tutsi monarchy <strong>and</strong> dem<strong>and</strong>s political<br />

<strong>and</strong> economic equity <strong>and</strong> access <strong>to</strong> education. At that time, all<br />

education <strong>of</strong> young Rw<strong>and</strong>ans is in the h<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> missionaries.<br />

Feb. 15, 1959: Birth <strong>of</strong> the political party Aprosoma, Association for<br />

Social Advancement <strong>of</strong> the Masses, founded by Joseph Gitera,<br />

with the help <strong>of</strong> missionaries.<br />

July 25, 1959: At the sudden death under mysterious circumstances<br />

<strong>of</strong> Mutara III Rudahigwa in Bujumbura. Kigeri V, his younger brother,<br />

succeeds him. An unexpected event for the colonizer, as it is organized<br />

by the sages <strong>of</strong> the Court. Belgium loosens its ties <strong>to</strong> the<br />

Tutsi <strong>and</strong> moves <strong>to</strong> cement relations with the Hutu majority – a major<br />

policy turn-around.<br />

July 28, 1959: Funeral <strong>of</strong> Mutara III <strong>and</strong> coronation <strong>of</strong> Jean-Baptiste<br />

Ndahindurwa, half-brother <strong>of</strong> Rudahigwa, under the dynastic name<br />

<strong>of</strong> Kigeri V, a refugee in the United States.<br />

Sept. 3, 1959: Creation <strong>of</strong> the Rw<strong>and</strong>an National Union (UNAR),<br />

founded by Tutsi monarchists for independence. <strong>The</strong> first President<br />

is François Rukeba.<br />

Sept. 14, 1959: Birth <strong>of</strong> the Rw<strong>and</strong>an Democratic Movement (RADER),<br />

founded by the Resident André Preud’homme.<br />

Oct. 9, 1959: Investiture <strong>of</strong> Kigeri V.<br />

Oct. 18, 1959: Foundation <strong>of</strong> the Movement Party <strong>of</strong> Hutu Emancipation,<br />

founded by Father Andriatis Ernotte, it was <strong>of</strong>ficially launched<br />

by Kayib<strong>and</strong>a as a movement in May 1957.<br />

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