Visit of the Executive Board in Rwanda

Kigali, March 11, 2022
Press Release
The partnership between Rhineland-Palatinate and Rwanda has existed for 40 years. On the occasion of a visit by the executive board under the leadership of the new president Norbert Neuser and the two vice presidents Anke Beilstein, MdL and District Administrator Manfred Schnur, a balance of the partnership was drawn up in Kigali together with the approximately 20-member team of the coordination office, but also considerations and concrete projects to further develop the partnership were discussed.
As before, grassroots work should continue through the support and commitment of many partnership associations in Rhineland-Palatinate, through the cooperation of municipalities and organizations and also through the great support services of many citizens in the areas of school construction, in the social sector and in projects of public services. School partnerships should be revived, student exchange intensified and new school partnerships especially in the vocational training sector should be initiated.
But topics such as regional economic development, renewable energies and sustainable tourism should also be addressed.
To adapt the partnership after forty years to today’s social conditions and living environments, 5 regional conferences from the Westerwald to the Palatinate in summer and autumn 2022 should serve to bring together proven as well as new thoughts and approaches. In particular, work with young people should be intensified.
As part of the visit, with the support of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, a new memorial could be inaugurated to commemorate the attack by a terrorist group three years after the genocide on the secondary school in Nyange, whose concept the partnership association developed in cooperation with the Rwandan side. It goes beyond mere hero worship and shows how discrimination can often lead to violence.
Norbert Neuser
President Partnership Association
RLP-Rwanda e.V.