Travelling to Rwanda with the UK-based genocide prevention group in 2010, Clive witnessed for himself the Aegis Trust’s support for widows and orphans of the genocide, and discovered the role it plays in education aimed at building social cohesion and reducing the risk of future violence. At the Kigali Genocide Memorial, established by Aegis in the heart of Rwanda’s capital at a site where some 250,000 victims of the 1994 genocide lie buried, thousands of young Rwandans come each year to learn about and from what took place.
“It’s a huge privilege to receive this award from UNESCO, the vision and activities of which are so closely aligned with those of Aegis,” says Clive. “The UNESCO constitution states that ‘since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed’. Nowhere can that be truer or more urgent than in countries which have experienced the worst of genocide, and I find it massively rewarding to be able to help generate some much-needed public attention and support for education programmes responding to that need.”
Former recipients of this UNESCO award include H.H. the Dalai Lama, H.R.H. Queen Noor of Jordan, Chancellor Dr. Helmut Kohl, Sir Peter Ustinov, Oliver Stone, Helen Mirren, Goldie Hawn, Jane Fonda, Donatella Versace, Don Johnson, Forest Whitaker, Shakira and Lionel Ritchie.
