Support Debate in Rwanda

Our Project-


iDebate Rwanda is a Non-Governmental Organization  created in 2012 with the aim of promoting the activity of debate in Rwanda and the East African Region.  Rwanda, a country in East Africa, continues to recover from a history marked by insecurity and violence. Decades of recurrent eruptions of violence preceded the horrific genocide against the Tutsis that took the lives of one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Ervin Staub, the founding director of the Doctoral Program on the Psychology of Peace and Violence at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, claims that there are several cultural characteristics that facilitate mass violence; among others, those include blind obedience to authority, Unhealed Wounds from past victimization and a Lack of critical analysis. Staub also predicts that a society is vulnerable to a relapse if characteristics that lead to violence are not addressed.  Rwanda as a country has done tremendous work in not only dealing with the underlying factors that lead to Genocide but in also creating unity and reconciliation for its population.

However, research done by Dr Rebecca Schendel shows that the lack of critical analysis in the Rwandan Education System is still an issue and therefore dangerous not only to Rwanda’s desire to become a Knowledge-Based Economy but also to Rwanda’s ability to develop young people that will strive in the 21st Century.


Our programs give students a head start on shaping a better future for themselves and their societies by teaching them how to think critically and solve problems creatively. We do this by offering a variety of programs rooted in debating skills, which research shows is the best way to improve critical thinking.  


Our Activities


Kigali Debate League: The Kigali Debate League brings together  students from 25 schools in Kigali to debate on a monthly basis on different issues that affect the country.
East African Debate League: The East African Debate League is an annual competition that  brings together students from Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya to debate about issues that affect the continent.
Dreamers Academy: The Dreamers Academy is a holiday camp that brings together students from Rwanda and the whole East African Region to sharpen their skills and to improve their leadership skills.
The Voices From A Post-Genocide Generation: This is an annual Tour of the United States where the team goes to different universities to share the history of Rwanda and to use Rwanda as a lesson to the rest of humanity.

Our Achievements


Despite the fact that the organization has been a volunteer-run organization relying heavily on the sacrifice of its members, we have achieved the following:


- More than 2000 students have participated in the Kigali Debate League
- Our camp average 250 participants each year
- Our graduates have been admitted to great universities such as Harvard University, Dartmouth College, Brown University, African Leadership University and they all attribute their success to their training in debate.
- We have spoken at over 50 universities in the USA for our annual Voices from A Post Genocide Generation tour.
- We have appeared in newspapers such as the Huffington Post, Foreign Policy Journal
- We have represented Rwanda at the 2016 World School Debate Championship( the World cup of debate) and our team won the Best New Nation Award.
- One of the teams that we train won the 2017 African Debate Championships


Why we need your help

Although iDebate Rwanda has been a volunteer-run organization, we can no longer work like one if we want to improve the quality of our work in order to serve our students better.


For this reason, we are seeking 20,000$ that will help us to do the following activities:

-Start a debate league in the Eastern Province of Rwanda
- Hold 2 debate camps
- Start an exchange program with 2 American universities
- Send students to  2 international competitions
- Hire a full time staff & 10 part-time coaches


We hope that you can join us in creating a world where kids can learn how to disagree constructively and where they can use their voices to shape and change their communities.

Please share, donate to allow us to continue our work,


Best Regards,


Jean Michel Habineza
iDebate Rwanda
Follow our adventure on https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_d8RuhNLoCc2oXUKiUr5p6mMI993ryi9