Role of Civil Society Organizations in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations in Rwanda

This article explores the role of Civil Society Organizations in conflict and post-conflict situations that affected the Rwandan society. Their role is directly connected with the broad history of the country, their relationship with the regime on power and external donors, and their capacities to achieve their respective mission and vision. Different sources of information including primary data collected using a questionnaire demonstrated that CSOs in Rwanda are at middle level undermined by genocide ideology, lacking skills to empower constituencies and to allow them to participate in public policy formulation and implementation process. CSOs are experiencing financial and ideological dependence which hinders their capacity to be the engine of conflict transformation enterprise in the Rwandan society