UN Resident Coordinator Speech at the 31st Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda

Distinguished guests, 

We gather today to once again mark one of the darkest chapters in modern human history, the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Thirty-one years ago, over one million people were brutally killed in just 100 days—the vast majority Tutsi, but also Hutu and others who stood against the genocide. Entire families were wiped out. Communities were shattered. Humanity failed to protect its own.

The horror of that chapter must never fade from our collective memory. Not just because of its scale and speed—but because it was not spontaneous. It was intentional. It was incited. It was organized. And, perhaps most painfully, it was preventable.

Today, we pause to remember not only those that were lost, not only the scale of this atrocity, but the warning signs that went unheeded. 

We pause to recall yet again that genocide is never an isolated event. It begins long before the first act of violence—with the spread of hate, the dehumanization of the “other”, and the failure of leadership. 

And we pause to reflect on our progress over the past year. 

Allow me to ask everyone in this room:  what echoes of the past do you see today? Are we incorporating the lessons from Rwanda’s experience? Is the world changing for better? 

Let me speak plainly. I am alarmed at what I see in our world. I am deeply troubled at how many of the risks are present in our world today. 

These are days of division and polarization. Of “them” vs “us” narratives. Of the weaponization of digital technologies to inflame hate and spread lies. Of the further erosion of international law. Of increasing armed conflict, attacks on civilians and frontline aid workers, and the weakening of diplomacy, peace and global solidarity.

The hope for this moment comes from each of us in this room. Every state has a duty to uphold the Genocide Convention—to prevent, to protect, and to prosecute. But this responsibility also belongs to each of us as individuals.

We in this room must respond with courage and clarity. 

We in this room must call out hate, defend truth, and stand for the dignity of every human being. 

We in this room must draw strength from Rwanda’s journey and its resolve to rise from the ashes of devastation, choosing unity over vengeance, progress over paralysis, and dignity over despair. That path has not been easy, and it remains ongoing—but it stands as a testament to what is possible when a nation chooses renewal.

We must find inspiration in Rwanda’s courage—and commit to honoring the victims and survivors by carrying forward their legacy. And to answer the call to action that our ceremony here issues.

I urge you: 

Remember, so that we never grow numb to injustice.

Unite, because only together can we resist the forces that divide.

Renew your commitment to peace, dignity, & the protection of every life.

In this 80th year of the founding of the United Nations, borne out of the ashes of another genocide of such scale that it took a world war to end it, let us uphold the core values that underpin the UN: the equality, dignity, and value of every member of the human family.

Let our actions be worthy of the commitment “never again.”

Thank you.