Ministers Nduhungirehe and Vince Henderson after signing the MoU
Rwandans wishing to travel to Dominican Republic could soon require no visa application, following a deal signed between Rwanda and the Caribbean nation.
On the sidelines of the ongoing 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Visa Requirements Exemption, facilitating further people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
According to Rwanda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the MoU was signed last evening during a meeting between Minister Olivier Jean Patrick Nduhungirehe and Dr. Vince Henderson, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business, Trade and Energy of the Dominican Republic.
It was in September 2022 at the same UN General Assembly that Rwanda and Dominican Republic established diplomatic relations. Both countries are members of the Commonwealth.
Still, on the bilateral relations area, Minister Nduhungirehe met and held talks with several officials including Fuad Hussein, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq, Ugochi Daniels, Deputy Director General for Operations at UN Migration and Taye Atskeselassie, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
He also held talks with Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Benin.
Minister Nduhungirehe and officials discussed further strengthening bilateral relations and ongoing partnerships between Rwanda and their respective countries.
Earlier on, Minister Nduhungirehe had held bilateral meetings with several other officials including Dr. Mohammed Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar; E.P. Chet Greene, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Antigua and Barbuda; and lgnazionazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation.
Discussing Rwanda-US relations
Minister Nduhungirehe meeting US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York
Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe also met with the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee, and discussed Rwanda-USA bilateral relations and regional issues, among others.
New diplomatic relations established
At the ongoing UN General Assembly, Rwanda added to its list a new diplomatic friendship. Following a meeting between Minister Nduhungirehe and Peter Shanel Agovaka, Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade of the Solomon Islands, the two signed a joint communiqué establishing diplomatic relations between Rwanda and the South Pacific island nation.
Minister Nduhungirehe and Peter Shanel Agovaka, Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade of the Solomon Islands
Fighting anti-Semitism and hate speech
It was a busy day for Rwanda as Foreign Affairs Minister Nduhungirehe and his delegation participated in a high-level event on the fight against antisemitism and hate speech through education.
The event was held at the invitation of France Diplomatie and Director General General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay.
At the event, Minister Nduhungirehe shared Rwanda’s experience in leveraging civil education to combat hate speech and division. He also stressed the need to collectively fight the rise in hate speech in the Great Lakes region and beyond.
