From the 1950's through the 1990's,Rwanda came into international focus for a host of reasons including on-going conflict,a record of severe human abuses of severe human abuses and the actions of successive governments that seriously violated the rights of citizens within impunity.Dating back to the colonial period and throughout periods of conflict and regime change,successive governments' entrenched deep-set divisions within Rwandan society,Particuraly along ethnic lines.These divisions were further enforced through the enacting and implementation of dehumanising law and policy,inequality of treatment and differential access to amenities,basic services and the protection of the state. As a consequence, many Rwandans left the country as refugees,settling in neigbouring states and further abroad.
During the 1990's,Rwanda' political instability and unrest was further exacerbated by the country's high levels of poverty,its tenous relations within the region and increased polotical opposition both within and outside of the country's borders culminating in military clashes between that regime of President Juvenal HABYARIMANA and the Rwandese Patriotic Front(RPF).Although efforts to promote peace and an end to armed conflict appeared to be on track with the signing of the 1993 Arush Peace Accord, this peace proved fleeting. Instead,violence quickly esclated to a massive scale and the final phase of the genocide claimed over a million lives of tutsi anf fellow Hutu who found themselves on the Victims'side fo number of reasons.
The Genocide of 1994 shared all that was left of the Rwandan socila fabric that provided a degree of social cohesion prior to the genocide. in its aftermath the country was with a collapsed system of governance,a highly polarised society characterised by distrust and fear between citizens and a lack of national unity.
Fortunately,this sad chapter in African history is being left behind through forward-looking reconstruction efforts and the will of Rwanda's people to re-shape and redefine reconciliation and social reconstruction from a perspective that emphasises bottom-up approaches and development from within the country. with the return of peace,the country's major challenges were firstly to build its governance infrustructure but this was highly contigent upon the second challenge, national reconciliation which was needed to restore national unity and political stability. At the time few were willing to wage their bets on success in surmounting either of these challenges.Yet,when compared to several of its East African neighbours,Rwanda today enjoys a substantial level of polotical stability.These factors,together with the country's robust economic growth in recent years,suggest that its government and public institutions such as NURC have by and large successful in arresting the major sources of domestic of instability.