While investigating Rwandan political violence, we also engaged in some other efforts along the way to better understand the context. Two are provided below: one a survey of Rwandan citizens and another a content analysis of the international media.  We also provide information regarding Rwandan censi that are not easily obtained - specifically 1991.  Censi from 2005 are forthcoming.  We are trying to track down Belgian censi as well.  Other data is listed that was collected from others.  These will all be posted when available.


A Survey of Butare

In our efforts to better understand what took place in Rwanda during 1994 as well as how individuals remembered these events, in 2001-2002 we engaged in numerous focus groups and one survey, the latter of which we provide below. Here, you will find the codebook for this effort as well as the raw data (Stata format).  

Generating the sample for the survey required a little innovation on our part.  As census records were believed to be useless, we selected a community that our enumerators were familiar with - Butare (where the national university of Rwanda is located along with the Centre for Conflict Management with whom we were working at the time).  We then sent enumerators to one of the smallest geographic units (the commune - approximately 100 households) where they identified all households by physically walking around, writing them down and latter drawing them.  At the time, we did not have access to the military maps that identified households at the 5 meter level.  Selecting every 6th household, enumerators administered their questionaires.

    Butare Survey Codebook - Word Format
    Butare Survey - Stata Format   


Media Coverage of Rwanda and the Death Count

When we began our research, we were aware that attention to Rwanda had been unsteady over time.  This prompted us to more systematically track coverage of Rwanda.  Below you will find data relevant to the country of Rwanda (all coverage as identified by Lexis Nexus) as well as a more specific focus on the number of victims within the violence of 1994.  

    Global Rwanda News Coverage 1985 to April 1999

    What was the estimation of the number killed as reflected in the international media of the time

    
The Rwanda Census of 1991

    Rwanda 1991 Census - PDF format

    1991 Codebook for Census Coding - Word Document

    1991 Census Data - Excel Format


The Rwandan Census of 2002 
  • SPSS format (sorry trying to find a better format)

The Rwandan Census of 2005
  • Forthcoming

Administrative Boundaries in Rwanda - Current and Past
    old to new cells by code_sector_district_province

Geographic Information
    Satellite Images of Rwanda (Prior to the Violence)
  •      This is a sample but we have the whole country stitched together.  If interested, contact us.
Migration data and Population data


Rwanda Radio Transcripts (total 727 from ICTR - forthcoming as we need to compress; sample of each provided)

Other Data

Declassified CIA documents 


Demobase Rwanda - Using the same methods applied to Pakistan, the Census Bureau mapped Rwanda, a country with a substantial, 
dense rural population. Satellite imagery was combined with data from the 2002 Census of Rwanda to produce a geospatial distributed population layer.

World Data Atlas

Looking for a copy

Aegis Trust Database (assessed from reading descriptions)

Primary question of interest
  • Survey attempted to collect the names, date and method of death for all people killed in Kigali Ville during the 1994 Genocide
Duration of time study took to complete:
  • December 2003- April 2004   
Methodology:
  • Study involved a door-to-door survey, conducted by University students, of all neighborhoods of Kigali Ville and parts of Kigali Rural.  The survey included questions regarding the date and method of death of victims in that area.
Locations/spatial domain of interest:
  • Kigali Ville and parts of Kigali Rural
Number of individuals employed:
  • 200 interviewers at the height of the project
Strengths:
  • Project was sponsored by the National Genocide Memorial which was likely increases participation and the quantity of information gathered
Limitations:
  • The project was completed in a short period of time and surveyed only people living in Kigali Ville and Kigali Rural at the time that the study was completed.  Training remains an issue throughout most large scale studies conducted in Rwanda.