Current President Paul Kagame calls this generation "the new Rwanda," alluding to their experiences only living under the post-genocide, Rwandan Patriotic Front government.
In order to create a unified narrative of the events of the genocide, the Rwandan government has developed educational and memorial programs.
These government programs work to socialize youth with a particular, homogeneous narrative of the genocide in which they did not directly experience.
[2] With the destruction of the economic, governmental, and familial systems, an overwhelming majority of Rwandan youth live in poverty and do not pursue education past primary school.
[5] The genocide, increased rates of poverty, and death from HIV/AIDS have left over 95,000 Rwandan children and youth orphaned.
German colonized the country but was quickly replaced by Belgium who redefined many Rwandan systems including education.
Upper secondary education requires a fee and a test for admission immediately after the conclusion of tronc commun.
[8] Rwanda signed on to and strives to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
Rwanda reflects the goals of the MDG by emphasizing education's ability to reduce poverty and promote economic development and sustainability.
[10] The OLevel examination, taken at the end of tronc commun, determines a students enrollment in upper secondary education.
Hospitals and health clinics have recorded an increase in patients admitted for tobacco related illness and abuse.
[16] Antiretroviral therapy (ART) available in the country allows HIV-infected individuals to continue to live within dating and sexual relationships into adulthood.
[14] Rwanda's large population of orphans and high-risk youth are more vulnerable to transactional sex.
[16] Transactional sex is common in sub-Saharan Africa for youth in expanding economies in order to ensure their survival.
[14][16] The Ministry of Youth is working to eliminate the problem of transactional sex with the "Singurisha" (I am not for sale) campaign by educating businesses, churches, and other officials about the community's responsibility to address the issue.
[6] Youth headed households place young girls at a higher risk of sexual exploitation and transactional sex.
Also, some orphans from the genocide are children of perpetrators or extremist Hutus and they are disadvantaged because of their parents' pasts.
Pervasive poverty reduces some community's ability to support orphans or youth held households.
[19] Vulnerable youth often migrate to Kigali with the hope of economic prosperity but have little opportunity or support within the urban setting to gain sustainable occupation.
[19] A large obstacle for young men is the acquisition of roof tiles which are necessary for building a house and expensive in Rwanda.
Young men search for opportunities for employment in order to provide for the roof tiles and other material for the house and often travel to large farms or Kigali out of desperation.
Young men in Kigali struggle to find the employment they are in need of and must deal with the possibility of not reaching traditional adulthood.