Faith-based organizations urged to collaborate in fostering responsible and strong families

The Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF) has called for faith-based organizations to join forces in fostering positive and responsible parenting for strong and healthy families.

This call was made during the National Interfaith Dialogue organized by Rwanda Interfaith Council on Health (RICH), held on February 11, 2025, in Kigali. It brought together religious leaders, government officials, partners, and stakeholders, to discuss ways to address the needs of strong and healthy families.

Currently, the challenges facing families include the increasing number of teenage pregnancies, household conflicts leading to abuse, murder, and divorce; children dropping out of school; malnutrition and child stunting; the high rate of HIV/AIDS infection among youth, among others.

Consolée Uwimana, Minister of Gender and Family Promotion noted that while Rwanda has made significant progress in building strong families, there are still major challenges.

“The Rwandan citizen we envision in 2050 will come from the family we are building today. To make this possible, we need to break the cycle of families in quarrels. It is crucial to prevent families in conflict from raising more families in conflict”, she stated.

She added, “We are asking for the partnership of religious groups in building peaceful families. We encourage them to support young couples by teaching them how to be good parents and guide them. We also need them to instill Rwandan values in their children ensuring that their faith shapes them into good people. Today, a Rwandan child is raised within the family, at school, in the church, and on social media. As parents, we must reflect on what we are giving children in all these platforms.”

His Eminence Antoine Cardinal Kambanda, RICH chairperson, urged parents and educators to work together in providing children with proper guidance, including how to use social media responsibly.

 “Social media offers great knowledge and opportunities for young people, but it also comes with harmful content. No child is inherently bad; a child is harmed by neglect and exploitation. If used correctly, technology can build them up rather than destroy them”, he said.

According to Dr. Basile Ikuzo, Director of the HIV Prevention Unit at the Rwanda Biomedical Center, new HIV infections have decreased, but youth remain the group most at risk.

The Rwanda Interfaith Council on Health (RICH) is a network of different religious confessions established in 2003 to fight HIV/AIDS. It has also been involved in other health issues such as family planning, maternal and infant health, malaria, tuberculosis, covid-19, nutrition, hygiene, and non-communicable diseases. Now the Council is engaged in promoting responsible and healthy families.