On October 1, 1990 the Rwandan Patriotic Front launched a war from and with the support of the Republic of Uganda against Rwanda. This war was accompanied by unspeakable violations of International Humanitarian Law. Both conflicting parties violated the basic rules protecting the civilian population in situations of armed conflicts. The United Nations Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of its Charter, passed resolution 955 of November 8, 1994 establishing the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to prosecute alleged responsible of such violations. This study investigates the background of the ICTR and questions the nature of the conflict that prompted the Security Council to establish another ad hoc international criminal tribunal after the one established for the former Yugoslavia. It further inquires into its jurisprudence and reflects critically on the ICTR's approach to serious violations of IHL under Article 3 Common to the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol II. / Jurisprudence / LL. M. (Law)

The occurrence of internal armed conflict in Africa has increased over the last two decades. As such, Africa continues to be viewed by many as a troubled continent. In an attempt to avoid further conflict in Africa, organisations such as the United Nations have implemented comprehensive tools and strategies to prevent further conflicts from occurring. However, the genocide in Rwanda and the on-going unrest in Sudan have shown that there is still a lot of work to be done. In both these cases, the conflicts took place or escalated even with UN presence on ground. This paper will thus examine the UN's legal role in the prevention of internal armed conflict and establish the type of lessons that could be learnt from Rwanda and Sudan. / Public, Constitutional, and International / LL.M.

This thesis seeks to identify the factors necessary to drive the United States to intervene in a humanitarian crisis. While some scholars have argued that humanitarianism in and of itself is a sufficient reason for an armed military intervention – I challenge this assumption and argue that while the United States can exhibit humanitarian impulses at times, that there are very observable limitations to these impulses. I argue that while humanitarianism can be a factor in the decision to intervene, that ultimately either national interest or another domestic political channel must also fervently push for intervention in order for action to occur. In testing my hypothesis, I examine American foreign policy in four modern humanitarian crises – Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Syria.

The aim of this paper is to explore how the Rwandan state has motivated its increased prioritization of family planning (FP). The paper seeks to understand whether the state’s increased promotion of FP is a result of Rwanda’s strong commitment to gender equality or part of a broader development agenda. By applying theories of substantive representation of women and smart economics, the paper investigates if the state considers enhancing women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) as a goal in itself or as a means to reach their broader development goals. The method which has been selected is text analysis. The texts which are analyzed are government documents from the time of the emergence of the FP programme. The main findings of this paper suggest that the state’s main motive for the increased prioritization of FP is driven by the development agenda rather than a gender-sensitive approach. Nevertheless, there are statements in the texts which the paper connects to theories of substantive representation of women, however, the development rational corresponding with the idea of smart economics is more recurrent. The paper finds that the hypothesis building on the theory of smart economics finds the strongest support and therefore suggests that the Rwandan states consider FP to be a means to achieve broader development goals.

The aim of this essay is to study the electoral process of Rwanda, and whether or not an authoritarian development can be found within the electoral process. This will be achieved through a case study of Rwanda, categorising the changes made in its electoral process since 1991 as either semi - authoritarian or authoritarian. Furthermore, the electoral process is divided into three phases: the pre - existing conditions, the procedure, and final ly the outcome. The theoretical framework consists of theories regarding both semi - authoritarianism and authoritarianism. The study finds that the pre - existing conditions and the outcome have transitioned from being defined as semi - authoritarian to be defi ned as authoritarian, while the procedure remains semi - authoritarian. This illustrates the discrepancy between the different phases of the electoral process, as opposed to them being synchronised. The final analysis concludes that Rwanda’s electoral proces s has become more authoritarian since 1991.

Background: Neonate’s health is intimately linked to maternal health. Yearly approximately 2.8 million neonatal deaths occur worldwide, counting for more than 40 % of all deaths of children less than five years. Over 70 % of these deaths happen during the first week of life (early neonatal mortality), often the first day, and 99% of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries with an often low quality of maternal health care services. Aim: To assess societal and household factors, and maternal health care factors delivered in Rwanda, and how these were associated with early neonatal mortality Methods: Cross-sectional data of interviewed mothers to 7726 children between 2010 to 2014, obtained from the 2014–15 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey, were analyzed in relation to early neonatal mortality using multiple logistic regression. Results: The factors found to be associated with reduced risk of early neonatal mortality were: delivery at a health facility, delivery assisted by a skilled birth attendant, and no low birth weight neonates. After adjustment with socioeconomic and proximate determinants, the same associations were found with delivery at a health facility and no low birth weight neonates. Conclusions: Delivery at a health facility and not to be born of low birth weight were associated with risk reduction of early neonatal mortality. These findings indicate that interventions to strengthen the antenatal health care system and to increase the utilization of already existing health care services are needed, and to educate practicing professional health care workers about early neonatal mortality.

Nine years after the genocide in Rwanda, women won 48 per cent of the seats in the parliament. In the next election of 2008 they became the most gender equal parliament in the world. But does this mean that women have received an extensive influence in decision-making in the Rwandan society? The aim with this study is to develop a deeper understanding of what role women have in decision-making at local political assemblies and in households. A field study with an ethnographical approach including interviews and observations in Rwanda was conducted in November-December 2011. Interviews with female and male farmers and urbanites were performed in order to understand their roles and responsibilities in their home. This thesis also contains a brief analysis of Rwandan women’s role in the pre-genocide society. Through a Neo-institutional approach, this thesis outlines what has contributed to women’s role today. Neo-institutionalism looks at societal changes with a holistic view and from three different aspects: the normative, cultural-cognitive and the regulative aspect. These three components of the theory are vital ingredients for a societal change to occur. My findings show that women participate in decision-making, not only on the central level, but also in local political assemblies. It also indicates that women of today partake in decision-making at the household level, earlier left to men alone. Women have also since 1999 gained equal rights by several legal regulations. My analysis shows that women’s influence in decision-making on central, local and on household level is a collateral consequence of the genocide.

Uppsatsen forskar i två länder som har gjort stora satsningar på IKT-infrastruktur och som har genomgått stor utveckling efter just dessa satsningar. Länderna vi valt att studera och jämföra är Singapore och Rwanda. Singapore som för 40 år sedan var ett utvecklingsland, men efter stora satsningar på IKT-infrastruktur under 70-talet, idag 2013 är ett av de ekonomiska starkaste länderna i världen med en hög konkurrenskraft . Vi har använt Singapore som jämförelse mot ett av dagslägets utvecklingsländer Rwanda. Rwanda drog år 2000 igång en plan vid namn Rwanda Vision 2020 som ska göra Rwanda till just ”Afrikas Singapore”. Rwanda Vision 2020 är en vision som innehåller liknande satsningar och strategier som Singapore använde sig av på 70-talet. Dessa satsningar och strategier har redan nu lett till stor ekonomisk utveckling i Rwanda. Syftet med uppsatsen är att hitta svar på vikten och betydelsen av att satsa på IKT-infrastruktur i ett utvecklingsland för att stärka landets ekonomiska position och konkurrenskraft. Uppsatsen består av en förklarande fallstudie som förklarar varför utveckling tar fart efter satsningar på IKT-infrastruktur samt förklarar IKT-infrastrukturens betydelse för landet som helhet. Resultatet av forskningen pekar på att det finns samband mellan utvecklingsländers framgångar i form av ekonomisk position och konkurrenskraft med dess satsningar på IKT-infrastruktur. Satsningar på IKT-infrastruktur öppnar samhället i form av att det bidrar till en högre grad av informationsutbyte mellan regering-invånare, invånare-invånare och regering-världen, vilket efter vår forskning har visat sig ha en stor betydelse för utvecklingsländers förmåga att skapa konkurrenskraft och stärka sin ekonomiska position.

A partir du postulat que les comportements problématiques que manifestent certains adolescents ayant grandi dans les villages d’enfants SOS au Rwanda post-génocide constituaient le versant négatif de l’aboutissement du processus de construction du sentiment d’exister, l’objectif principal de cette recherche était la compréhension de ce processus. Ces comportements problématiques ne seraient pas nécessairement synonyme de son échec, mais seraient, surtout à l’adolescence, des tentatives de se faire exister, en lien avec différents éléments qu’il nous fallait découvrir.En appliquant une approche développementale et systémique de recherche et en raisonnant en termes de facteurs de protection et/ou de risque, nous avons identifié quatre facteurs impliqués dans ce processus.Le traumatisme psychique et les deuils compliqués qui ont succédé aux différentes pertes que ces adolescents ont subies pendant le génocide continuent de peser sur le processus de construction de leur sentiment d’exister. De ce fait, certains des comportements problématiques qu’ils affichent peuvent se comprendre comme des réactions comorbides au PTSD.L’environnement physique/matériel et humain dans lequel ces adolescents ont grandi était aussi un facteur de risque. La discontinuité/pluralité des contextes dans lesquels ils ont vécu, le côté institutionnel des villages d’enfants qui prend le dessus sur le côté familial, la primauté des liens de sang dans la société rwandaise et la (trop) grande importance accordée aux activités scolaires au détriment des autres activités sont mis en cause.La qualité de l’attachement développée par chacun des jeunes suivant sa trajectoire de développement joue aussi dans certains cas comme facteur de risque. L’insécurité de l’attachement est notamment impliquée dans certains comportements problématiques, dans la question de dépendance chronique de certains jeunes et dans la faible estime de soi.L’étude a aussi montré que dans certains cas ce sont les modalités relationnelles familiales et extrafamiliales propres à chaque adolescent qui jouent comme facteurs de risque, notamment des difficultés liées à la quête des origines et des héritages familiaux, ainsi que celles liées à la construction d’un sentiment d’affiliation à la famille SOS d’accueil. / From the assumption that problematic behaviors manifested by some adolescents who were raised in SOS Children’s Villages in post-genocide Rwanda constitute the negative side of the outcome of the process of construction of their sense of existence, the main aim of this research was to understand that process. These behavior problems would not necessarily mean its failure. Rather, especially at the adolescence period, they would be understood as attempts to make themselves exist, in line with different elements that we ought to discover.Applying a developmental and systemic research approach, and reasoning in terms of protection and/or risk factors, we identified four factors involved in that process.The psychological trauma and complicated grief that followed the losses that these adolescents sustained during the genocide are still a burden to the process of construction of their sense of existence. Therefore, some of their behavior problems can be understood as comorbid reactions to the PTSD.The physical and human environment in which these adolescents were raised was also a risk factor. The discontinuity/plurality of contexts in which they lived, the institutional side of SOS Children’s Villages that overpowers the family side, the primacy of blood relationships in the rwandan society and the (too much) consideration given to school activities, leaving out other activities, were found to be involved.The quality of the attachment developed by each youth through their development path comes also as a risk factor in some cases. The attachment insecurity is, among others, involved in some behavior problems, in the chronic dependency of some adolescents, and in the lack of self-esteem.The study also shows that in some cases, it is the family and extrafamily relational modalities of every adolescent that play as risk factors, namely those difficulties related to the quest for origins and family heritages and those involved in the construction of the feeling of belonging or affiliation to the SOS foster family. / Doctorat en Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Scholars of intermedia agenda-setting have examined how news organizations can affect one another's content, but research is lacking on the influence of foreign news programs on fledging media outlets, such as Rwanda Television (RTV). A quantitative content analysis conducted between October and December 2016 indicates that media outlets in core countries dominated RTV's international news edition, which depended mostly on foreign programs, mainly from Euronews and Al Jazeera English. The 2016 U.S. election was the predominant topic. More than half the stories had a negative tone. In addition, qualitative interviews with the RTV editorial team revealed that the main factors influencing story selection were proximity, prominence, impact, cultural values, and relevance. Cross-lagged correlation coefficients indicated that both RTV and two Rwandan newspapers—igihe.com and Imvaho Nshya—focused on the same news topics but with slightly different sources. In Rwanda, the defining factors for this intermedia agenda-setting are not media type, ownership, or technology, as other studies have found, but institutional barriers, language, and the globalization of news. Faced with limited finances and a shortage of trained journalists, fledging media organizations in Rwanda will continue to depend on big media for their daily international news. Strategies are suggested for helping to break the cycle of foreign media domination and news homogenization in Rwanda