Survivors Fund plans two events to remember Rwanda
The First Lady of Rwanda, Mrs Jeanette Kagame, will visit the UK Houses of Parliament on Tuesday, April 20th to mark ten years since the Rwandan genocide. She will be joined by Noreen Kaleeba, pioneer of HIV work in Uganda, founder of TASO and UNAIDS Community Mobilisation Programme Manager. Mrs Kagame will be the guest at an event organised by Survivors Fund (SURF), a UK based charity working to support survivors of the Rwandan genocide, and hosted by Brian Cotter MP, Survivors Fund Patron. As the founder of PACFA (Protection and Care of Families Against HIV/AIDS), a Rwandan programme which advocates for specific policies, strategies and actions to fight HIV/AIDS among women, children and families, Mrs Kagame will launch a campaign to access HIV/AIDS treatment for women who contracted HIV/AIDS as a result of being raped during the genocide.
PRESS RELEASE
Monday, 15 March 2004
The First Lady of Rwanda, Mrs Jeanette Kagame, will visit the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday, April 20th to mark ten years since the Rwandan genocide. She will be joined by Noreen Kaleeba, pioneer of HIV work in Uganda, founder of TASO and UNAIDS Community Mobilisation Programme Manager.
Mrs Kagame will be the guest at an event organised by Survivors Fund (SURF), a UK based charity working to support survivors of the Rwandan genocide, and hosted by Brian Cotter MP, Survivors Fund Patron.
As the founder of PACFA (Protection and Care of Families Against HIV/AIDS), a Rwandan programme which advocates for specific policies, strategies and actions to fight HIV/AIDS among women, children and families, Mrs Kagame will launch a campaign to access HIV/AIDS treatment for women who contracted HIV/AIDS as a result of being raped during the genocide.
UNAIDS estimates that half-a-million people in Rwanda are infected with the virus: the population of Rwanda is approximately 8 million.
She will also speak at a public event to remember victims and survivors of the genocide on Saturday, April 17th at The London Oratory School, where she will be joined by BBC International correspondent Fergal Keane and Valentina Ilibagiza, an 11-year-old who was discovered after 43 days hiding among the bodies of those killed during the massacre at Nyarubuye Church. (She was featured in a Panorama programme by Fergal Keane in 1997).
April 7th this year is the official commemoration day of the start of the genocide ten years ago, when an estimated 1 million people were killed in just 100 days.
SURF will be happy to provide information to help with any coverage you are planning to mark ten years since the genocide – survivor to interview, information on Rwanda and our partnership organisations etc. Our patrons include BBC International Correspondent Fergal Keane, Oona King MP, Brian Cotter MP and actor Paul Bradley (formerly Nigel in Eastenders). For more information please contact:
Nick Bell, Communications Officer, Tel: 020 7610 2589, email: [email][email protected]
Survivors Fund (SURF)
10 Rickett Street
London
SW1 6RU
020 7610 2589
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