Keywords: Rwanda, genocide, events of 1994, reconstruction

April 7 this year marked the 20th anniversary of the tragic events of 1994 in Rwanda, those events that marked a black milestone in dividing the country's history into "before" and "after". The scale of the tragedy was such that it resulted in the death or flight of up to 40% of the country's citizens. According to various estimates, from 500 thousand to 1 million people were killed, more than 2 million became refugees [1].

This number of victims required an unprecedented number of courts and judges to restore justice and punish the perpetrators. In 1995, the International Tribunal for the Rwandan Genocide began its work in Arusha (Tanzania), which deals with crimes committed by former high-ranking government officials and senior military officials. Ordinary courts in Rwanda could not keep up with the number of cases, as three-quarters of the judicial cadres were exterminated during the mass repression of 1994.

In 2000, the Rwandan government decided to revive the pre-colonial Gachacha courts, in order to relieve the burden of ordinary courts and speed up the handling of cases related to the 1994 genocide. In essence, these are councils of elders, called upon to consider on the ground various offenses for which death sentences are not imposed.

Over the past 10 years, these courts have handled about 1 million cases of Rwandans suspected of committing acts of genocide. [2] It was also intended that the Gachacha courts (which were discontinued in 2011) should promote national reconciliation in Rwanda.

HUMAN LOSSES

In 1995, UN experts estimated that no more than 5 million people lived in Rwanda. Then there was a sharp jump in the rate of population growth-up to 12% - due to the return to their homes of more than 2 million refugees with offspring born in exile. By 2000. the population of the country increased to 7 million 720 thousand people, which roughly corresponded to the pre-war level. The population of Rwanda in 2012 was estimated at 11.7 million, and the population is expected to double by 2033.

As the experience of economic recovery and reconstruction in Rwanda has shown, the country's population grew more rapidly than the GDP growth rate. It took about 5 years to restore the population, and 8 years to reach the" pre-war " GDP size. Population growth was faster than the economic recovery.

ECONOMIC RECOVERY

The country's economy was severely disrupted by the civil war and genocide of 1994. GDP fell by 50%; the inflation rate, which was 12.5% in 1993, reached 64% by the end of 1994. The harvest of food crops collected in 1994 was only about half of the 1993 harvest [3, p. 589]. During the events of 1994, livestock production was severely affected, the breeding herd of cattle was almost completely destroyed, and the number of sheep, goats, and pigs was significantly reduced. Only by the beginning of 2005 did the livestock population approach the pre-war level.

Significant damage was caused to forests, the area of which, which was 13 thousand hectares before 1994, was reduced by hundreds of hectares. Pre-1994 food and light industry enterprises Report at the General Meeting of the IAfr RAS on February 12 this year (with nek. abbreviations).

industries were shut down during the war, and not all of them were able to restore production later. In 1995, only 40% of enterprises were reactivated [4].

The massive return of refugees in 1996-1997 and the resulting acute shortage of vacant land plots, combined with the onset of drought, led to food shortages in the country and famine among the population in 1998-1999. To avoid a humanitarian catastrophe, the Government had to turn to the international community for urgent food assistance. Further deterioration of the economy was halted only by emergency government measures, private sector incentives, and a massive influx of foreign aid.

Foreign donors and international organizations held several round-table meetings in support of the Rwandan economy shortly after the 1994 events (in Geneva, January 1995 and June 1996, and in Stockholm, June 1998), which resulted in commitments to provide assistance to Rwanda. The entire post-war reconstruction of the country's economy was carried out with these funds, in 1995-2005. Rwanda received $297 million annually.

The Government's recovery and consolidation program (1996-1998) played an important role in restoring the economy to the level of the early 1990s. Over the next 8 years, the economy was restored to the level of 1985. This was supported by programs and recommendations developed by the IMF and WB specialists, on the basis of which the country's economic policy was formed and implemented since the mid-1990s.

These include: The "Structural Adjustment Program for the Rwandan Economy "(1998-2001); the" Poverty Reduction Strategy "(2002-2007 and 2008-2012); and the" Debt - Ridden Poor Countries Initiative " (2005), which resulted in the cancellation of $1.4 billion in debt to Rwanda.

All these programs provided for the privatization of enterprises (in 1996-2006, 70 out of 104 state - owned enterprises were privatized), reduction of public spending, trade liberalization, attraction of foreign capital, etc.

The Vision 2020 policy document, published in 2000, defined the country's leadership's goal - to make Rwanda a modern, strong, united nation. The program defines specific socio-economic goals: increasing GDP to $20 billion. and higher, which will raise the statistical per capita income to $900 (from $290 in 2000); increase the average life expectancy from 49 years (2000) to 55; reduce the poverty rate of the population to 30% (from 64% in 2000) [5].

As the main components for achieving economic growth, Vision 2020 calls: creating attractive conditions for economic activity; facilitating the terms of trade (eliminating unnecessary barriers, introducing necessary standards); creating conditions for the development and growth of the private sector (which should become the engine of the economy); and developing human resources. All this should lead to an annual GDP growth of 7-8%, an increase in national investment (30% of GDP).

In the course of implementing the above-mentioned programs, the Government of the country managed not only to restore the economy destroyed during the genocide and civil war, but also to go further along the path of its development.

For example, agriculture, which is the predominant sector of the Rwandan economy (it employs up to 90% of the country's total population - 97% of women and 86% of men), has become almost 90% of the population's food supply by 2009. The industry provides, on average, 45% of export earnings and accounts for 36% (2010) of GDP, with 31% accounted for by food crops [6].

The strategy in the field of agriculture provides for the need to transform it from being focused on the production of subsistence products to a professional commercial industry that is economically competitive. To do this, according to experts, it is necessary to strengthen the specialization of farmers and the diversification of crops. The government plans to cover half of arable land with modern farms by 2020, triple vegetable production, and increase milk production fivefold.

The overall goals of the Rwandan industrial policy ("to create and maintain industrial growth that will make Rwanda competitive in the region and around the world" [7]) are reflected in the country's main economic documents: by 2020, the share of industry should reach 26% of GDP, and the number of people employed in it - 1.4 million. The construction industry is experiencing a real boom. The Bank of Rwanda estimates that 25,000 new homes are built annually in the country.

Rwanda's accession to the East African Community in July 2007 was one of the steps taken to address its economic problems. You've already been to this Community

Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda were accepted. With the admission of new members (Rwanda and Burundi), the Community has become an organization that unites countries with a population of 120 million people. In this way, Rwanda was able to expand the production quota of its agricultural exports and partially address the problem of labour surplus by migrating its population to other countries of the Community.

On July 1, 2012, the country celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence. President Paul P. Kagame, at the African Economic Conference held in Kigali in the fall of the same year, noted that over the past five years, the poverty rate has decreased from 56.9% to 44%; the average annual GDP growth in 2012 was 7.7%, which is 2% higher than in other EAC countries; foreign direct investment amounted to 20% OF GDP [8].

The Government continues to implement a development program aimed at introducing new technologies and modernizing agriculture, expanding the service sector. The country is one of the most active reformers in the last 10 years in the field of business regulation. From 2001 to 2008 Rwanda has implemented reforms related to property rights, simplification of trade laws, tax collection, customs duties, land ownership and investment, and simplification of business opening. The reforms have yielded results: from 2005 to 2009, more than 3 thousand companies and about 2.8 thousand individual entrepreneurs were registered in the country. The fight against bribery has made Rwanda the least corrupt country in East Africa.

International experts consider Rwanda to be an example of good macroeconomic policy. In 2010 Rwanda was recognized by the World Bank as the world's best business reformer. In 2011, data from the latest survey of the African Business Group of Economics, which determined the "business index" of 53 sub-Saharan African states, were published, according to which Rwanda entered the top ten African states with the most attractive atmosphere for foreign investment [9]. And in 2013, according to the World Bank's Doing Business report, Rwanda was ranked 52nd out of 185 countries, and 3rd in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of terms of starting and doing business.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

In its programs, the Government pays great attention to the development of human resources, an important place in the formation of which belongs to education and health. The 1994 genocide had a dramatic effect on them. UNICEF estimates that about 600 primary schools (32% of the pre-1994 level) were destroyed, and about 3,000 were destroyed. teachers are missing. Education and training are defined in the policy documents as a necessary condition for achieving economic development and poverty reduction in Rwanda. "The global goal of the Government of Rwanda is to reduce poverty and improve the well - being of the population. In this context, the goal of education is to combat ignorance and illiteracy and create the human resources necessary for the socio-economic development of Rwanda" [10]. Special attention should be paid to the teaching of science and technology at all levels.

Since 2003, primary education has been provided free of charge, and since 2005, the first three years of secondary education are free of charge. By 2015, it is planned to switch from compulsory 6-year to 9-year education. Rwanda has 30 institutions of higher education, of which 17 are public and 13 are private. Most of the universities were opened after 1994.

According to national statistics for 2010, the adult literacy rate is 75%. By 2015, the Ministry of Education has set a goal to raise this level to 80% [11]. A corresponding program has been developed. There are Adult Literacy Centers in the country (more than 2 thousand) on the basis of schools that work at churches. A three-semester course is equivalent to completing three grades of primary school. More than 22 thousand people are trained annually. Training is free.

WHO highly appreciates the development opportunities of Rwandan health care and considers that Rwanda is one of the few African countries that still has a chance to achieve the "Millennium Development Goals" proclaimed by the United Nations in 2000, while maintaining the current pace of development. This is especially true for taking care of the health of mothers and children. A health improvement program is being implemented in the country.-

New maternity homes and hospitals are being built in support of the mother and child. In 2002, there were only 11 centers that provided free testing to pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission of AIDS. By 2010, there were already 390 such centers. In the period from 2000 to 2010. maternal (three-fold) and child (one-and-a-half-fold) mortality rates have significantly decreased.

RESTORING LAW AND ORDER

The most difficult task was probably to restore internal peace, law and order in the country, and change the consciousness of citizens. The government's efforts were aimed at strengthening the unity of the country. The new Constitution, adopted in a referendum in May 2003, declares the preservation and strengthening of national unity to be the highest goal of all State and public institutions.

The Constitution sets out a number of defining goals and principles. In particular, Article 9 states the intention to fight any manifestations of genocide, eliminate ethnic, regional and other possible conflicts, and promote the unity of the State. For this purpose, a number of measures are envisaged that exclude the concentration of power in the hands of any one ethnic or political group.

According to the Constitution, no party, even if it wins an absolute majority in parliamentary elections, can get more than half of the seats in the government. The President and the head of a legislative body cannot be members of the same political organization. There are still a number of restrictions on the activities of political parties among the population. The Parliament is granted the right to suspend the operation of constitutional freedoms in case of emergency.

In Rwanda, dual citizenship is allowed (Article 7). The Constitution guarantees the right to citizenship, including to refugees who left Rwanda between November 1, 1959 and December 31, 1994, and who will be granted citizenship if they return to the country. Citizenship is also granted to those of Rwandan descent and their descendants.

The country complies with constitutional norms and regularly holds presidential and parliamentary elections. President of Rwanda P. Kagame (candidate of the Patriotic Front of Rwanda-RPF) received 93% of the vote in the 2010 elections. In the 2013 parliamentary elections, the ruling FIU won with 76% of the vote.

PERPETUATING THE MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF THE GENOCIDE

In addition to maintaining constitutional order and peace, the authorities took care to perpetuate the memory of the victims of the genocide. April 7 was declared the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the 1994 Genocide. There are several memorial complexes in the country, the main one is located in the capital-Kigali. Most of the other memorials are in churches or schools, as tens of thousands of people have fled there in search of salvation.

In 2002, the Peace Dialogue Research Institute was established, which deals with the history of Rwanda and, in particular, the 1994 genocide, and the development of democracy. In 2009, a special building - the "Peace Center" - was built for the Institute in Gisozi (with the help of the Japanese Government).

Genocide is the main theme of Rwandan artists. Writers include Benjamin Sehene, Savverio Naigiziki, Gilbert Gatore, Immaculee Ilibagiza, Scholastic Mukasonga, Maggie Correa, Yolande Mukagasana, Teresa Muamini, Beatriz Umutesi, Marie Umurerva; cinematographers include E. Cabera, P. Kashtana, Yves Ntwali, J. Ndahayo; artists include Pascal Bouchayidja, Colin McCarthy, and others.Sekajugo.

RESTORATION OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

After the civil war and the events of the genocide, Rwanda had to restore not only various sectors of the economy and the rule of law, but also international relations. The main milestones in this process are: the restoration of diplomatic relations with Germany in January 2009; the signing of the agreement on the resumption of diplomatic relations with the DRC (after a 13-year break) on August 6, 2009; the restoration of diplomatic relations with France in November 2009.

Russia took an active part in the peaceful settlement of the political crisis in Rwanda, in international assistance programs for Rwanda (road and air transportation of humanitarian goods, providing emergency assistance to refugees) and in national economic recovery programs. The Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda in Moscow, which was closed in 1995 due to financial difficulties, resumed its work in autumn 2013, in the year of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries.

1. Lugan V. Rwanda. Contre-enquetes sur le genocide. Paris, 2007, p. 15.

2. Africa. Encyclopedia. In 2 vols. / Edited by A.M. Vasiliev. / Moscow, vol. 2, 2010, p. 585. (Africa. Encyclopedia. 2 vols / Ed. A.M.Vassiliev / M., vol. 1, 2010, p. 585) (in Russian)

3. Africa. Encyclopedia. In 2 vols. / Ed. by A.M. Vasiliev. / Moscow, vol. 2, 2010.

4. Africa South of the Sahara 2009. New York, London. 2009, p. 931.

5. Rwanda Vision 2020. Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. Kigali. 2000, p. 9 - http://www.gesci.org/assets/ Rwanda_Vision_2020

6. Rwanda Economic Update. The World Bank. 2011, p. 4 -http://www.djcument.worldbank.org/2011/rwanda

7. National Industrial Policy. Ministry of Trade and Industry. Government of Rwanda. 2011, p. 6 - http://www.minicom.gov.rw/industrial_Policy

8. P.Kagame opens the African Economic Conference at Kigali. 30 October 2012 - http://www.paulkagame.tv/podcast

9. BIKI No. 132 (9974), 17.11.2012.

10.Cit. по: Education Sector Policy. Ministry of Education, Rwanda. 2000, p. 8 - http://www.mintduc.gov.rw

11. Rwanda Education Sector: Long-term Strategy and Financing Framework 2006 - 2015. Ministry of Education, Rwanda. 2006, p. 12 - http://www.planipolis.iiep.unesco.org

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