Rwanda National Police

The youth should be ambassadors of orderliness and be involved in strategies to prevent violence in their communities.

The message was delivered by Police during a meeting with over 400 students of GS Nyinawajambo Secondary School, Rwamagana, on March 9.

"As young people, use your energy positively to prevent any criminality in your area, rather than be lured to join gangs that cause disorder,” the District Community Liaison Officer of Rwamagana, AIP Goreti Uwimana, said.

“Be the ears and eyes of your society and cooperate with Police by providing timely information to solve or prevent a crime. Also, volunteer in communities to teach and sensitize your fellow youth about the dangers involved in joining crime gangs or abusing drugs."

The Director of Studies at GS Nyinawajambo, Claude Uwizeye , commended Police for reaching out to the youth and for conducting various youth empowering training and sensitization campaigns.

"Respectable young people are those who lead their fellows by example through identifying issues and cooperating with authorities to overcome challenges. Always cooperate with authorities and also discuss among yourselves how to tackle any challenge," he said.

One of the students, Olivier Twagirimana, in senior one, said he is committed to meeting the challenge by advising fellow youth in his community to fight against crime.

“We have clubs as school through which we discuss and debate about how we can contribute to national development. The first challenge we have is to make sure that we fight against things that affect us, such as drugs and violence,” he said.

Rwanda National Police continuously reaches out the youth - and has trained over 600 members of the Rwanda Youth Volunteers in Crime Prevention Organisation (RYVCPO) on crime prevention.

The organization is composed of about 7, 000 members countrywide including students, who supports vulnerable communities by giving them medical insurance, livestock and carryout crime prevention awareness programmes in schools and communities against drug abuse, corruption and gender and domestic violence, among others.