Never Again International was founded in 2001 at the Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution’s Symposium at The Hague, Netherlands. Never Again was founded as a youth-based network that works across borders to provoke ideas and action for peace. Never Again connected students and young graduates from around the world to develop a collaborative international partnership.

In response to the international community’s failure to prevent or end the 1994 Rwandan genocide, five students participating in the Symposium initiated a movement to ensure the fulfillment of the post-World War II commitment: “Never Again.”

In 2002, members of Never Again from Great Britain, the United States and Japan visited their partners in Rwanda to learn about the causes and effects of genocide. Inspired by connections that confirmed our common humanity, the participants were united by a desire to challenge the dehumanization and apathy that allows genocide and mass violence to occur.

Since the foundation, Never Again International grew to include members in Burundi, Canada, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Great Britain, Rwanda, Uganda and the United States. Members worked in collaborative partnership to create and carry out youth-led peacebuilding projects. Connecting the local and global, expertise and experience, these projects provoked critical thinking about the past to inspire ideas and action for peace.

Never Again had a track record of bringing together young people and experts to provoke creative thinking about peace. In 2004, NAI organized the main UK commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide and the Imperial War Museum. NAI also held the Global Youth Conference Against the Genocide in Kigali where participants put together a series of recommendation to the UN at the request of one of the speakers, Paul Wolfowitz, former president of the World Bank. The Rwandan peacebuilding office hosted visits by American youth to exchange ideas about human rights, the UK chapter organized a conversation with General Dallaire in the Houses of Parliament and the New York chapter organized a major day of discussion about conflict education. Never Again International had an extensive network of youth clubs across the Great Lakes and chapters in Rwanda, Burundi, the DRC, America, Canada, the UK and China.