To work towards the prediction, prevention and ultimately the elimination of genocide for the benefit of humanity primarily through research, education and the dissemination of information and advice.
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Born from the work of the UK National Holocaust Centre, the Aegis Trust is responsible for the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda's capital city Kigali at a site where 250,000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi have their final resting-place.
Through education, Aegis counters the potential for mass atrocities. It builds long-term peace by helping divided communities move from mindsets of mistrust to shared responsibility for peace and stability, and it puts the voices of survivors at the centre of its work, helping them rebuild their lives.
£25 can put one young person through peace education at the Kigali Genocide Memorial. “You learn to ask, how do we avoid another genocide happening? You learn it’s not only an event in the past but a probability in the future if you don’t contribute to prevention,” says Mekha Rousseau, child of a genocide survivor and perpetrator.
£75 can fund one participant through Aegis' peace building programme in the Central African Republic. "I was still planning revenge when I joined an Aegis peace training programme," says Kadjidjia in Bangui, the capital city. "After we went through trauma healing and the forgiveness exercise, I had given up my desire for revenge. That night I was able to sleep again.” Kadjidjia gave up the assault rifle and grenades she had stockpiled for the planned attack.
£1350 can take a leader from a community in crisis through Aegis' Changemaker programme. Noting their critical role in recruiting young people for armed conflict, Peacebuilder Nicholas Aru Maan helped arrange for paramount chiefs from South Sudan to undertake the programme in Rwanda. Nicholas told us what happened afterwards.“The chiefs went back to their villages and started telling people, “We can mobilise our young people to fight, and they lose their lives. Why don’t we mobilise them to go to school?” Lives have been saved."
However much or however little you can raise or donate for the work of the Aegis Trust, it will be helping to change hearts and minds and save lives.