The Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace (IRDP) contributes to the building of sustainable peace in Rwanda through participatory action research, the promotion of a culture of debate and dialogue on issues related to peace and by sharing experiences with other peace initiatives.

Through “dialogue clubs” IRDP takes public debate to rural areas, schools, universities and to the Rwandan elite. By early 2007, it was estimated that IRDP’s research had directly involved over 10,000 Rwandans in and out of the country, of every social and political persuasion, including several members of the opposition.

Key recommendations emerging from IRDP research have encouraged or informed the development of policies or programmes on a number of critical issues, including the establishment of a National Genocide Commission, a strategy to support irrigated agriculture, a more transparent system of taxation and the development of a non-partisan history curriculum for the nation’s schools. About 2,000 Rwandans continue to contribute directly to IRDP’s research – through dialogue clubs, secondary schools and university clubs, the working class, national forums or specific research projects – while a growing number of senior officials and parliamentarians have thrown their weight behind its advocacy activities.

RDP believe that their work has been instrumental in creating a more open space for discussion of sensitive issues – such as the role of political parties in building democracy, power-sharing, ethnic identities vis-a-vis social cohesion etc – in Rwanda