On February 6, 2023. The Minister of Health, Dr. Nsanzimana Sabin, and the Minister of State, Dr. Yvan Butera, met with a delegation from the International Vaccine Institute led by its Chairman of the Board of Trustees, George Bickerstaff, to discuss potential areas of collaboration in the biomanufacturing ecosystem.
Earlier the morning, the High-Level Delegation from the International Vaccines Institute paid tribute to genocide victims laid at Kigali Genocide Memorial and took a guided tour in the memorial to learn how genocide was prepared and executed.
The high-level delegation included George Bickerstaff, Chairman of the International Vaccines Institute, Jerome Kim, Director General of the International Vaccines Institute, and Anh Wartel, the Institute's European Director General.
The aim of the memorial tour was to help the IVI delegation understand how the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi was prepared and carried out, resulting in the extermination of over a million people in just 100 days.
The team also laid wreaths at the mass graves of more than 250,000 victims.

"It's extraordinary. It's beyond sad," said George Bickerstaff, praising Rwanda's post-genocide resilience.
"I appreciate the courage of the Rwandan people, for peace and forgiveness. It is a message to the whole world. Thank you for showing us this, it is very touching".
Asked what the world could learn from Rwanda, he said: "We all have to pay attention to what's going on around us, this didn't come as an overnight surprise, it happened over a long period of time and people didn't notice, they chose not to pay attention and that's very said".
The message is to keep watching, be vigilant and prevent bad things from happening.
The high-level IVI delegation is in Rwanda to review current priorities in the health sector and explore other areas of cooperation.