The seeds of the Isōko Center were planted in 1995 when Dr James Smith, a trauma physician, along with Stephen D Smith PhD and their parents, founded the UK’s National Holocaust Centre and Museum. Their work coincided with the aftermath of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and genocide at Srebrenica in Bosnia. As James reflected, “We had a big debate about whether to even open The Holocaust Centre. How can we have a warning from history whose aim was about the promise ‘Never Again’, if genocide continued to happen?” The Kosovo crisis in 1999 further crystallized their thinking when James discovered many refugees had packed suitcases not days or weeks but months before being forced out, raising questions about why warning signs were missed by the international community.
The Smith family concluded that genocide is fundamentally a public health issue. Just as health organizations identify risk factors for deadly diseases and implement preventive measures, the Smiths believed risk factors for genocide could be identified and addressed before violence erupts. This revolutionary perspective led to the founding of Aegis Trust in 2000, established as the world’s first organization to treat genocide prevention as a public health challenge. Operating primarily in Rwanda, Aegis manages the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the final resting place for 250,000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi, while working toward the prediction, prevention, recovery from and ultimate elimination of identity-based violence and mass atrocities.
When the Kigali Genocide Memorial opened in 2004, Rwanda faced growing mistrust between children of survivors and perpetrators. Recognizing that simply retelling genocide history wasn’t enough, Aegis developed peace and values education to help young people learn from the past without perpetuating blame or trauma. Using a storytelling methodology centered on real individuals, the programme draws strength from stories like that of ten-year-old Grace, a Hutu girl fleeing to Congo in 1994. When she encountered a dying Tutsi mother with her baby by the roadside, Grace’s grandmother ordered her to leave the child. Instead, Grace declared, “If I have to die for this baby, I will.” Despite threats, she carried the baby to safety, ultimately bringing her up (Grace is pictured here, left, with Vanessa, whose life she saved in 1994). This story powerfully demonstrates critical thinking, empathy and personal responsibility – the very values Aegis seeks to instill through its peace education work.
The impact of Aegis’ peace education has been profound and life-changing. One student credits the program with saving both his life and the lives of those he had planned to kill in revenge for his family’s death during the genocide. Another expresses regret that the workshop came too late to prevent his brother from joining Hutu extremist militia in Congo—something he himself had planned to do the following week. These testimonies demonstrate how peace education doesn’t merely change minds—it saves lives. As Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga from the Central African Republic observed, “The Aegis Trust has helped Rwanda to rise from the ashes. We have seen the result: Rwandan youth have understood the past that led them into darkness.”
Today, peacebuilding is more urgent than ever as climate change becomes a growing driver of mass atrocities. In coming decades, hundreds of millions of people will migrate as their lands become uninhabitable due to climate change. This already fuels extremism and conflict, as seen in Sudan and Syria. Development of sustainable livelihoods, trauma healing and peace education of the kind pioneered by Aegis have a key role to play through Isōko in mitigating these dangers, along with climate initiatives, good governance and accountability, swift intervention to stop incitement, and protection of civilians targeted for identity based violence.
Strategically located in Bugesera, Rwanda, minutes from the new international airport, the Isōko Center for Humanity will be an ideal gateway for sharing Rwanda’s peacebuilding expertise with the world. Bugesera’s history traces the full arc of genocide—from mass deportation of Tutsis in the 1950s that foreshadowed later violence, through its devastation in 1994, to its current status as an exemplar of successful reconciliation. This makes it a uniquely powerful setting for Isōko’s work. Through its comprehensive facilities—including peace education training spaces, a sanctuary for peacebuilders, a situation room for policy development, and a visitor center—Isōko will transform Rwanda’s hard-won insights into practical tools for building resilient, peaceful communities worldwide.
