On 21 September, the Kigali Peace Ambassadors Network (Kigali PAN), in collaboration with Aegis Trust, brought young people, educators and communities together to celebrate the International Day of Peace through the Turi Umwe Peace Festival. Through art, music, dance, drama and creative expression, the celebration created a space to reflect on peace, healing, unity and reconciliation, while recognising that every person has a role to play in building safer, more compassionate communities.
More than a one-day event, the festival reflects an ongoing, community-led movement to amplify youth voices, strengthen solidarity and nurture an inclusive future. It is a visible expression of values that Aegis Trust has been working to embed into everyday life across Rwanda.
Speaking at the celebration, Appolon Gahongayire, Education Manager at Aegis Trust, challenged the idea that peace is something to be commemorated once a year and set aside. He highlighted the work of Aegis Trust’s Peace and Values Education Programme, which partners the Government of Rwanda, young people, parents and teachers to challenge division and promote empathy and critical thinking. Crucially, the programme’s content has been integrated into Rwanda’s Competence-Based Curriculum as one of eight cross-cutting issues taught from nursery through secondary education, placing peace and values at the very heart of young people’s learning journeys.
“I do not believe that peace should be something we remember only once a year. Peace is not a date on a calendar; it is a decision we make in how we speak to one another, how we listen, how we treat the people around us. It is something we must choose, and work for, every single day.”
Gahongayire also recognised the vital contribution of Peace Ambassadors in schools and communities, where they help young people develop the values that support peaceful coexistence. He reminded the audience that young people are not only future leaders; they are peacebuilders right now.
Central to this work is the Aegis Peace Ambassadors Network, which supports young people to become active agents of change in their homes, schools and communities. Peace Ambassadors are trained to facilitate dialogue, model positive values and encourage their peers to reflect critically on the ideas and influences they encounter. The Kigali PAN, led by young people, themselves, teachers and community members, exemplifies how this network translates education into action, turning values learned in classrooms into commitments lived out in communities.
For Aline Happy Nzamukosha, President of the Kigali Peace Ambassadors Network, the festival was both a celebration and a call to action:
“Peace starts with me, starts with you, starts with each one of us. But it does not stay with us alone; it grows when we share it, when we stand beside someone who is struggling, when we choose kindness over division. That is what it means to be a Peace Ambassador.”
The Mufti of Rwanda, Sheikh Musa Sindayigaya, Guest of Honour, underscored the importance of unity, tolerance and collective responsibility in guiding young people toward positive choices. Reflecting on Rwanda’s history and the consequences of the Genocide against the Tutsi, he called on young people to critically examine the ideas and influences they encounter and to reject anything that leads toward division, hatred or destruction.
“Values are not rules written in a book. They are the foundation of how we live, how we treat one another and how we show up in the world every day. A young person who is rooted in strong values is a young person who can resist manipulation, heal wounds and help build the kind of society we all deserve to live in.”
Through its Peace and Values Education Programme and support to the Peace Ambassadors Network, Aegis Trust continues to contribute to Rwanda’s efforts to build sustainable peace, equipping young people, educators and communities with knowledge, values and practical tools to promote dialogue, tolerance, healing and reconciliation.
The Turi Umwe Peace Festival demonstrated how these efforts come alive through community-led action and creative expression. Sustainable peace, it reminded us, is not handed down; it is built collectively, through the choices people make, the values they uphold and the actions they take every single day.