Rehabilitation for Survivors of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda: What Are the Lessons Learned?

Rehabilitation for Survivors of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda: What Are the Lessons Learned? Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2017 Apr;38(4):361-367 Authors: Uwamaliya P, Smith G Abstract Rehabilitation remains a significant concern among survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Rehabilitation falls under tertiary prevention, which is a core function of public health. Despite efforts to introduce various rehabilitation programmes for genocide survivors in Rwanda, these initiatives have often proved inadequate in meeting their long-term needs. The failure of the Rwandan Government, international community, United Nations, and other Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) calls into serious question their commitment to international human rights laws. Rehabilitation should be regarded as a free-standing human right for genocide survivors and a human rights-based approach to the rehabilitative process should incorporate measurable outcomes based on an agreed ethical framework. The author calls upon the international community to reiterate its concerns about genocide survivors and reaffirm its commitments to human rights. The main issues discussed in this article are: the long-term needs of survivors of the 1994 genocide; what is already provided, and the gaps; how Stucki's Rehabilitation Cycle framework (a problem-solving tool) can help improve current provision; the role of the international community, NGOs, and genocide survivors' organisations in...
Source: Issues in Mental Health Nursing - Category: Nursing Tags: Issues Ment Health Nurs Source Type: research