English
Kinyarwanda
Rwandan youth have been called to be involved in planning and carrying out strategies to prevent violence in their communities.
This message was delivered by Police officials during a meeting with over 600 students of the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre (IPRC) that was held on February 18 at their Kicukiro Campus.
"Youth should participate in projects to prevent crime and violence, cooperate with Police by providing timely information to solve or prevent a crime, volunteer in communities to teach and sensitize their fellow youth about the dangers involved in joining crime gangs or abusing drugs," Inspector Seraphine Nyirandikubwimana from the Police Community Policing Department, told the youth.
"While still in school, join anti-crime clubs and help mediate conflicts amongst your colleges at an early age so that you get the experience you need to perform community policing initiatives more satisfactorily."
The Director of IPRC, David Rugambwa, commended Police for reaching out to the youth and conducting various training and sensitization campaigns, and urged students to act as responsible citizens of Rwanda by concentrating on their academics and shunning crimes.
"The youth are the future resources of our country and the government has empowered all of you with the responsibility to address social issues in their neighborhoods. Respectable young people are those who lead their fellows by example through identifying issues and cooperating with authorities to overcome challenges."
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.
