The people of South Sudan have been urged to draw lessons from what happened in Rwanda in 1994 to prevent genocide from taking place on their own soil. 

The plea to learn from the Rwandan experience was heard and repeated during a ceremony to commemorate the 23^rd anniversary of the genocide that took place there.

Peacekeepers from Rwanda marked the day at their camp at the UNMISS base in Tomping by paying tribute to the 800,000 lives lost during the 100 days of killing. They also carried out various activities to support survivors.

Speaking at the event, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Moustapha Soumare, made an impassioned call to silence the guns and seek the path for peace.

Mr. Soumare said that as Rwanda marks the day, the South Sudanese should also remember the lives lost in the years of conflict in their own country.

“As we gather here today we also remember the victims of the conflict in South Sudan. The senseless fighting over the past few years has left thousands of people dead and millions displaced. May the South Sudanese people and their leaders unite through courage and resolve, and resolve the fighting,” Mr. Soumare said.

Lt. Col Kabera Simon, a Rwandan national and Deputy Public Information Officer of the UNMISS Force Headquarters in Juba, says the bloodshed was meaningless and that preventing something similar from happening again is the most important.

“People should learn to live together and to love each other, love their country and avoid divisions among themselves. They should ignore what makes them different from each other and look at what brings them together and build their homes and nation,” he says.