Jesuit Urumuri Centre (JUC) is a social justice initiative under the aegis of the Society of Jesus (Compagnie de Jésus) in Rwanda-Burundi Region. Inspired by the Jesuit missionary commitment to the propagation of faith and promotion of justice, the centre endeavors to actualize the bearing of the Gospel justice in relation to individual and social welfare with particular attention to the poor and the neediest.
Created in 1992, the Centre known at the time as “Centre Socio-Culturel”, aimed at serving as a social arm of the spirituality Centre – Centre Christus. Initially, the Centre promoted social and cultural activities focusing mainly on documentation and research. Following the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, the Centre underwent a period of inactivity due to slow rehabilitation process and the replenishment of its infrastructure which had been severally damaged during the war.
In 2001, the Centre rose again under the name “Centre Socio-Culturel Urumuri”. Since then, various events have been organized in the Centre; namely interreligious dialogue, recreational programmes such as drama plays, conferences, occasional publications, and public talks. Nonetheless, despite the Centre’s capability to occasionally organize relevant activities, such activities have been fraught with lack of consistency and strategic vision. As such, after a profound reflection and wider consultations on the possibilities of rekindling the fire that once ignited the spirit of its first founders, a three year strategic plan 2016-2019 was prepared, approved and the implementation started in 2017.
This three year’s strategic positioning has been a time of grace. The Centre registered considerable strides and its growth and apostolic repositioning are remarkable. During this period, the Centre changed the name from Centre Socio-Culturel Urumuri to Jesuit Urumuri Centre: Centre for Research and Social Action. The new name communicates more explicitly the agenda of the Centre’s commitment and conveys a louder universal appeal for partnerships and collaboration. So far, Jesuit Urumuri Centre’s efforts have focused on research activities, and formation on value-based education and promotion of human dignity through trainings drawing from the social doctrine of the Catholic Church.
- Mission Statement – Our mission statement is to promote justice for the integral development of all especially the neediest through research and social action.
- Vision – A society where faith inspires action for the wellbeing of everyone
- Motto – The glory of God is a person fully alive
Our Core Values and Principles
- Human Dignity: JUC endeavors to promote intrinsic dignity of all the people. Our primary interest is to uphold the autonomy of every individual member of society especially the least advantaged, the most vulnerable and the marginalized.
- Preferential Option for the Poor: We are inspired by Jesus’ own mission mandate of bringing freedom to the oppressed… (Lk 4:16-19); we do so by standing side by side with the people in greatest need and those left on the margins of the social welfare structures.
- Magis: We envision the best in any of our service delivery commitments and excellence is our sole leitmotiv. We strive to become a leading hub of social concern; Magis is therefore a value onto which we hold dear with due discretion, far-sightedness, and depth.
- Transparency: We are committed to transparency in all we do and in the way we conduct our operations. This is manifest in the way we stand answerable to our partners’ queries and report to our benefactors. We also promote the same value in our beneficiaries so as to ensure mutual trust and rootedness in justice and fairness for all.
- Critical Analysis: JUC upholds a rigorous discipline of not judging things at their face value. We promote critical thinking through examination of available facts and social insertion into contexts and places which are subject of our studies. This helps ensure nonpartisanship and promote integrity and credibility amidst our beneficiaries.
- Collaboration and Networking: Collaborating with others leads to mutual enrichment, avoids duplication of services, and promotes complementarity and solidarity. We therefore value aspects of collaboration and networking to enable the maximization of available opportunities while we discharge our mandate.
