Kwibuka takes part in a campaign at a school. Credit: Informed Future Generations
Peace starts with me but will never end with me – notes from an everyday peacebuilder in Rwanda
“Peace starts with me, but it will never end with me,” says Jacques Kwibuka, a Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights advocate, and the founder of .
Recognized as a Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals, Kwibuka has dedicated his life to empowering youth in Rwanda through health education and awareness. For him, true peace is not just the absence of war—it is rooted in “families, communities, and systems that choose protection over silence, dignity over neglect, and justice over invisibility.”
“My peace is a future where no child grows up in fear," he explains. "Where vulnerability is not normalized. Where silence is not survival.”
Below, he shares his vision for peace.
The intimacy of peace
Peace starts with me but does not begin with me alone. I belong to a family, a community, and a nation. Every person belongs somewhere. I have come to believe that when peace is absent in our homes, it cannot fully exist in our nation.
When people speak about peace, they often think about the absence of war. But for me, peace is more intimate. It is daily dignity, it is the safety in the places where we grow up, it is a young person feeling valued enough to dream, it is a girl remaining in school, it is a home where violence is not normalized, it is access to information and services that allow young people to make informed decisions about their health, relationships, and future.
I was born in Rwanda that was rebuilding itself. I did not witness the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, but I grew up within its memory, its lessons, and its commitment to “never again.” Every Kwibuka (annual commemoration of the Genocide) reminds me that peace is fragile, it is not inherited, it is intentionally built, protected, and renewed.
Peace is not a destination, but a process
As Rwanda continues its journey of reconstruction and transformation, I have witnessed a nation shaped by resilience and intentional leadership. Progress in governance, health systems, gender equality, and youth empowerment has created opportunities that were once unimaginable. Yet, I have also learned that national progress becomes meaningful only when it reaches households, transforms relationships, and addresses the structural conditions that shape everyday life.
These reflections shaped my understanding of peace not as a destination, but as a continuous process of addressing structural violence, challenging harmful social norms, and protecting the dignity of every young person.
Children in a school in Rwanda. Credit: Informed Future Generations
When vulnerability is not accidental
As I pursued my studies in nursing, I began to see realities that statistics alone cannot fully express. I encountered and listened to lived experiences shaped by teenage pregnancy, gender-based violence, mental health challenges, children born into vulnerability, and young people navigating exploitative situations for survival.
When I reflected on both lived experiences and available data, I began to see patterns that could not be ignored. These were not isolated challenges. They were interconnected outcomes of inequality, silence, and normalized harm.
Many of these realities are rooted in gender-based violence and unequal power relations within families and relationships. They are reinforced by social norms that discourage speaking out, normalize silence, and shift responsibility onto individuals rather than systems. In such environments, vulnerability is not accidental—it is produced and sustained.
The more I listened, the more I understood that what I was witnessing was not only a health issue. It was a peace and protection issue. It was structural. It was systemic. It was about whether young people are truly safe in their everyday environments.
The quiet, powerful resilience of youth
Because when a young person is exposed to violence, denied support, excluded from opportunity, or left without information, the consequences extend far beyond the individual. Families are affected. Communities are weakened. Development is constrained. Peace itself becomes fragile.
Yet I have also witnessed resilience—quiet but powerful resilience in young people who continue to hope even when protection systems fail them.
This realization compelled me to act.
During my Bachelor’s as a nursing student, I kept asking myself: How can we, as junior healthcare professionals, stop the continuous rise of teenage pregnancies, HIV transmission, and mental health challenges among young people to save future generations and how can young people be better supported to make informed decisions about their health and future?
That question became the foundation of .
Youth advocates working on a campaign at a school. Credit: Informed Future Generations
Protecting future generations
What began as a small student-led response grew into a platform grounded in one belief: that informed young people are better protected as the future generations. Protection, in this sense, is not only physical—it is informational, social, and structural.
Together with fellow youth advocates, we established school-based clubs, community level awareness campaigns, and digital awareness platforms. We worked to challenge harmful norms, reduce stigma, and expand access to youth-friendly health information and services. We created spaces where young people could speak openly about issues often surrounded by silence.
Not as victims. But as agents of change.
Through this work, I have learned that peace is not only built in institutions or policies. It is also built in small interruptions of silence that change how people see themselves and each other.
It is built when a young person realizes that violence is not normal. It is built when a girl understands that her future is not defined by circumstances beyond her control. It is built when a boy learns that masculinity does not mean control or harm. It is built when communities begin to replace stigma with support and silence with dialogue.
These shifts may appear small, but they are deeply structural. They reshape norms. They reduce vulnerability and strengthen protection.
Drama performance to raise awareness at a school club. Credit: Informed Future Generations
Peace as a continuum
My journey has also shown me that community action alone is not enough. Sustainable peace requires systems that protect, respond, and prevent harm before it happens.
This understanding led me to pursue an Master’s in Business Administration in Leadership and later a Master’s in Public Policy. Through these studies, I have sought to understand how leadership, governance, and evidence-based policymaking can strengthen protection systems and address the structural drivers of inequality.
Today, I see peace as a continuum. It begins with the individual, is shaped within families, influenced by community norms, and either strengthened or weakened by institutions and policies. Health, education, gender equality, and governance are interconnected systems of peace.
What gives me hope is the resilience of young people.
Across Rwanda, I see young people challenging harmful norms, advocating for mental health, preventing gender-based violence, and designing solutions rooted in their lived realities. I see a generation refusing to remain silent in the face of harm.
They remind me that young people are not only beneficiaries of peace. We are central actors in its creation.
A walk against SGBV at a school. Credit: Informed Future Generations
Peace starts with me
Sustaining unity and resilience among young people is essential for long-term peace and development. But this requires more than expectation. It requires protection, inclusion, and meaningful engagements and be trusted equally in partnership which must consider their current capacity of implementation.
My peace is a future where no child grows up in fear. Where vulnerability is not normalized. Where silence is not survival. Where every young person is protected by both systems and society. Where families are safe spaces. Where communities are accountable. And where young people are heard before harm becomes history.
Peace starts with me but will never end with me. It must grow through families, communities, and systems that choose protection over silence, dignity over neglect, and justice over invisibility because when peace begins in the home and is protected by society, it becomes strong enough to sustain a nation.