Together for Rwanda's development - Twese hamwe mu iterambere ry'u Rwanda

Highlights
Introduction
Development Context
Rwanda’s Development Commitment
Why is Canada Working with Rwanda?
What CIDA is Doing
Strategic Results Framework

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• supporting rural development through measures aimed at the productivity and commercialization of agriculture, the strengthening of the private sector, and the protection of the environment; and

• strengthening local governance, especially the capacity of decentralized local authorities and rural associations.

In keeping with priorities expressed by the Rwandan government, and in keeping with CIDA’s overall mandate and Canada’s International Policy Statement, this country development programming framework (CDPF) maps out CIDA’s support in Rwanda from 2005 to 2011. It was created after extensive consultations within CIDA and other federal government departments, with the Rwandan government, and with Canadian and Rwandan stakeholders.

Gender equality, environmental sustainability, and preventing HIV/AIDS are integrated into all initiatives.

CIDA will continue to coordinate its activities and harmonize its approaches in Rwanda with other donors—an approach that will strengthen the effectiveness of CIDA programs.

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Development Context

Extreme poverty

Rwanda is one of Africa’s poorest countries, a situation exacerbated by conflict and political instability—both national and regional—in the 1990s. Per capita income has slipped from US$370 in 1990 to $US220 in 2004. More than 60 percent of the population now lives in poverty.

Rwanda faces enormous challenges. The 1994 genocide has swelled the ranks of vulnerable groups and created new ones, such as the following: households headed by children; widows or women whose husbands are in prison; recently freed prisoners; unskilled and unemployed youth; landless farmers; seniors; and people with disabilities. A high population density combined with Rwanda’s steep terrain and a lack of intensive farming practices, have all served to create immense pressure on the country’s land and natural resources.

Lack of food is a particular problem with the majority of poor Rwandans living in rural areas. Despite sustained economic growth in recent years, this poverty continues to worsen, thus widening the gap between rural and urban populations.

Rwanda at a Glance Population: 8.5 million (2004 census) Gross national income: US$220 per capita (2004) Life expectancy at birth: 43 years (1960), 39 years (2003) Adult literacy rate (2002): 75% (men), 64% (women) HIV/AIDS infection rate for people aged 15–49: 7–11% urban, 2–5% rural (2004) Human development index (HDI) rank: 159/177 (2003) Source: World Bank Group; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Research has identified several factors that contribute to deepening poverty:

• Low agricultural productivity leading to poorer yields for major crops;

• Population pressure on arable land;

• Poor agricultural marketing in rural areas;

• Rural unemployment/underemployment;

• Lack of savings and investment in rural households; and

• Weak environmental conservation practices.

All of these factors point to areas where development assistance can make a real difference to the poorest Rwandans.

Political stability

Since the late 1950s, towards the end of the Belgian protectorate, Rwanda has experienced a series of civil and ethnic conflicts. These conflicts led to the genocide of 1994, in which about 800,000 Rwandans were killed and half of the population
was displaced.

The genocide deeply scarred Rwandan society. It will be difficult to heal these wounds and it will take a long time; yet survivors and their attackers must live and work side by side, and somehow seek to reconcile with one other.

The Government of Rwanda has taken many steps to build internal stability. It has introduced a policy of reconciliation that forbids “divisionism” based on ethnicity, but also has the effect of limiting political debate. It is addressing culpability for acts of genocide, in part through the use of popular trials that are based on customary justice (gacaca). A new constitution was adopted by referendum in 2003, followed by presidential and parliamentary elections.

The government has also adopted a decentralization policy that should bring much of the decision making around development closer to local authorities and thus closer to the Rwandan people. The process of decentralization creates challenges and opportunities that urgently call for development assistance from partners such as Canada.

Regional security

Rwanda’s development challenges must be understood within the context of Africa’s Great Lakes region. In 1996–97, a rebellion in Zaire toppled the regime of Mobutu Sese Seko. The new Rwandan army, which was pursuing perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide who had taken refuge in Zaire, joined Congolese rebels to bring Laurent Kabila to power. Zaire then became the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In 1998, a second war brought in Angolan, Libyan, Namibian and Zimbabwean troops to sup-port President Kabila against his former allies Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, who were backing a new militia to overthrow him.

In 2002, Rwanda and Uganda agreed to withdraw their troops from the DRC, where a transitional government is now making progress toward elections. Thousands of members of the previous Rwandan militia are still at large in the eastern DRC, however, posing a threat to the local population and souring relations between them.

Reducing the number of armed forces and militias in all the countries concerned will be a major contribution to regional stability. Reintegrating these ex-combatants into civilian life, however, poses a major challenge for Rwanda, especially in light of its small economic base, high unemployment and rural poverty.

Regional integration

Rwanda is a small, landlocked country with limited natural resources. Its long-term growth depends on its ability to expand trade, particularly with its immediate neighbours. To that end, Rwanda has been engaged in talks to join the East African Community, a group consisting of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda that seeks to become a free-trade area.

Rwanda is also active in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) which is pursuing economic partnerships between its members and the European Union. In addition to promoting North-South trade, COMESA aims to strengthen regional integration among its membership.

Rwanda has been a central player in the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, whose 11 core countries have adopted a common vision on peace, security, democracy, and economic and social development in the region.

Beyond the region, Rwanda actively supports the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), a made-in-Africa plan to address the continent’s challenges. One of 15 countries on the NEPAD Implementation Committee, Rwanda was among the first to undergo a peer review of its governance, in an exercise led by NEPAD.

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Rwanda’s Development Commitment

The Government of Rwanda has adopted a comprehensive policy framework to guide its own strategic decisions, and those of donors as they worked toward Rwanda’s development, especially poverty reduction. The centrepiece of this framework is the poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP), an ambitious plan to halve the proportion of Rwandans living in poverty by 2015. The plan’s well-defined priorities and targets are summarized in Vision 2020, a policy statement that outlines the government’s objectives for the year 2020.

The PRSP, developed in consultation with the people of Rwanda, enjoys broad popular support among Rwandan civil society. As a result, donors—including Canada—have aligned their work in Rwanda with the plan’s six priorities that are all geared to promoting economic growth of particular benefit to poor women and men:

• rural development and agricultural transformation

• human development

• economic infrastructure

• governance and decentralization

• private sector development

• institutional capacity building

The goals expressed in Vision 2020 are, in other words, Rwanda’s own expression of the Millennium Development Goals, as indicated in the table on the following page.

Poverty Monitoring Indicators – Rwanda

Subject	Vision 2020	Millennium Development Goals
Poverty, economic growth	Reduce the population living below the poverty line from 60 percent to 30 percent by 2015; achieve annual economic growth equivalent to 7–8 percent of GDP until 2020.	Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day; halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
Gender equality	Achieve equal (50 percent) participation of women in tertiary training.	Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005, and at all levels of education no later than 2015.
Population growth	Reduce the population growth rate from 3.2 percent to 2.5 percent by 2010.
Fertility rate	Reduce the average number of children per family from 6 to 4 by 2010.
Maternal mortality	Reduce the maternal mortality ratio from 810/100,000 to 202/100,000 by 2015; make reproductive health services available to all.	Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio.
Infant and child mortality	Reduce infant mortality from 107/1,000 to 35/1,000 by 2015.	Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate.
Literacy, basic education	Increase net primary enrolment from 72 percent to 100 percent by 2015.	Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere will be able to complete primary schooling.
Prevalence of AIDS	Lower the prevalence rate from 14 percent* to 5 percent by 2020.	Halt, by 2015, and begun to reverse, the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Protection of soil against erosion	Increase protected area from 20 percent to 70 percent by 2020.	Mainstream the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs; reverse loss of environmental resources.

* 2000 estimate, since revised downwards by UNAIDS, to 3.4–7.6%

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Why is Canada Working with Rwanda?

There are three main reasons why Rwanda is a development partner:

• Enormous development challenges. Rwanda faces challenges that are far beyond its means: poverty, an economy dominated by low-yield subsistence agriculture, resource scarcity and degradation, and the legacy of the genocide.

• Rwanda is helping itself. Rwanda has developed a credible framework for its own development initiatives and the international community’s activities.

• Canada’s interests in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Because of this region’s strategic importance to African economic development and its impact on international security, Canada has supported the path to peace in the Great Lakes for over 10 years and plans to continue in this role through a “3D” approach that combines diplomacy, defence and development.

In April 2005, the Government of Canada launched Canada’s International Policy Statement: A Role of Pride and Influence in the World. As part of this new policy, CIDA identified a core group of 25 development partners that will receive at least two thirds of Canada’s bilateral assistance by 2010. These are countries where there is a high level of poverty, yet also an ability to use aid effectively and prudently, and where there is sufficient Canadian presence to add value. Fourteen of these countries, including Rwanda, are in sub-Saharan Africa—the world’s most impoverished area.

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What CIDA is Doing

Canada’s relationship with Rwanda began in 1963 when Canadian missionary Father Georges-Henri Lévesque helped establish the National University of Rwanda. Since that time, CIDA has contributed over $500 million to Rwanda.

Early programs included institutional support for the national university, rural development, road construction and electrification. Humanitarian relief and housing construction in the 1994–1999 emergency period gave way to a development program focusing on basic human needs, promoting equality between men and women, and building institutions related to justice and human rights. Programming for the 2005–2011 period builds on CIDA’s experience, is solidly anchored in Rwanda’s own poverty reduction strategy, and focuses on the needs and rights of poor, rural Rwandans.

Principles of Intervention CIDA’s 2002 statement, Making a Difference in the World: A Policy Statement on Strengthening Aid Effectiveness, will guide all of the Agency’s programming in Rwanda. The following three principles are particularly pertinent: Local ownership. Recipient countries—rather than donors—must identify their own priorities and develop their own strategies. In Rwanda’s case, authorities clearly identified areas for Canadian involvement, giving particular attention to CIDA’s expertise in rural private-sector development and gender equality. Improved donor coordination. Recipient countries must coordinate the involvement of donors to avoid duplication and heighten overall impact. In keeping with its policy of decentralization, the Government of Rwanda has created a common development fund (CDF) to channel money to local districts. Canada and other donors aim to use mechanisms such as the CDF to harmonize their support to rural development. Results-Based Approach. Improved monitoring and evaluation of development programs leads to more effective results. In partnership with Rwandan authorities, CIDA will develop a framework to monitor performance that will identify any necessary adjustments in programming.

Rural development

For the 2005–2011 period, CIDA will place a strong emphasis on rural development. In keeping with Canada’s International Policy Statement, these investments will strengthen the private sector, particularly through increasing access to markets and providing new entrepreneurship opportunities for rural men and women living in poverty. They will also protect the environment by halting or reversing land degradation and promoting sustainable agriculture and agroforestry.

The Government of Rwanda is preparing a sector-wide rural development strategy that will set priorities for the following: agriculture research and extension; the development of export crops; food processing and marketing support; land-use legislation and policies; easier access to private and public funding of agriculture; and a labour-intensive rural infrastructure program.

In the short and medium term, CIDA will support the last-mentioned element of this strategy: the rural infrastructure program. Investments such as terracing, swamp reclamation, and reforestation will augment agricultural productivity and production. Building or repairing feeder roads, local markets, and crop storage will increase farmers’ ability to sell what they grow. The labour-intensive approach will also create much-needed temporary employment for low-income earners, young school leavers, demobilized troops, and freed prisoners. Small firms and community groups will also benefit through contracts to organize the work.

In the long term, the program will help trans-form Rwanda’s economy by increasing rural income and purchasing power, as well as enhancing savings and investment. Strengthened infrastructure will also lead to better environmental management and protection.

Ultimately, these initiatives will strengthen the enabling environment for the rural private sector, increasing the access of poor farmers to markets and expanding the commercial potential of agriculture.

Local governance

As part of Rwanda’s five-year action plan to decentralize decision making, local authorities and rural associations play a large role in implementing the country’s poverty reduction strategy. These fledgling authorities, however, do not yet have the full capacity to manage these ambitious and innovative programs. For this reason, CIDA will help strengthen local governance.

This major capacity building program will draw on CIDA’s expertise, experience, and credibility in community development. With the aim of supporting an inclusive approach to local governance, the program will target local elected officials, district staff and peasants’ associations. Not only will the program strengthen all these groups, it will also improve their linkages and communication, enabling them to work better together.

Integrating gender equality, HIV/AIDS, and the environment

Canada and Rwanda are committed to integrating the goals of gender equality, the prevention of HIV/AIDS, and the protection of the environment into all of CIDA’s initiatives as a way to strengthen the overall impact of support to rural development and local governance.

Gender equality. Women are more than half the population of Rwanda and over 57 percent of the rural adult population, performing much of the agricultural labour. Traditionally, women have not had access to public decision making. Recently great strides have been made in the Rwandan Parliament where nearly half of the representatives are women. This emerging equality is not, however, reflected at the district level nor in the rural areas. CIDA will draw on its expertise in gender equality to build the capacity of Rwandan authorities, civil society, and local communities to integrate gender equality into poverty reduction programs, increase women’s participation in decision making, and eliminate practices that discriminate based on gender. In the context of local governments, CIDA will work towards ensuring that development plans and municipal services provide equal benefits to men, women, girls and boys. In the context of rural development initiatives, issues of access to decent work and to decision making will form part of the Agency's gender strategy.

Environment. Environmental degradation, declining food security, and unsustainable population growth are significantly linked to one other and also to chronic poverty. The dominance of low-yield agriculture, the use of firewood as the chief source of household energy, not to mention the years of conflict and repeated population shifts, have all taken a heavy toll on Rwanda’s soil, forests, and water. Natural resource management must receive constant attention if sustainable development is to be achieved. CIDA-supported initiatives will help rehabilitate and conserve natural resources directly and also build capacity for environmental protection. By promoting poverty reduction, and by supporting the modernization of the rural economy, CIDA’s program will also help ease the pressure on natural resources.

HIV/AIDS. Prevalence rates of HIV infection in rural Rwanda, currently estimated at 2-5 percent, are lower than the rates of up to 30 percent seen in some areas of southern and eastern Africa. The potential impact of HIV/AIDS on the labour force and on health costs is still significant, and prevention must be a priority. All CIDA-funded programs will explore how they can extend awareness and prevention activities into hard-to-reach communities.

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Strategic Results Framework

Canada–Rwanda Cooperation, 2005–2011 Reducing poverty and improving the living conditions of all Rwandans Transforming the rural economy and improving well-being Expected Outcomes Creation of non-agricultural jobs in rural areas Increased agricultural productivity and production Greater protection and rehabilitation of the natural environment Equal access to the means of production for women and men in rural areas Less vulnerability for farmers Diversification of the rural economy Greater awareness of ways to prevent HIV/AIDS among rural population Strengthening local governance in civil society and in the public sector Expected Outcomes Local administrators can better coordinate planning processes and can better manage financial resources for local development plans Rural associations can better represent vulnerable groups Government partners have stronger gender-equality capacities Women and men are equally involved in local governance Farmers’ associations and their federations can better negotiate their social and economic interests under local development plans Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have stronger capacities for gender-equality advocacy and support Women’s NGOs and grassroots communities can better influence local decision making Rural populations are better protected against HIV/AIDS Local authorities make a greater contribution to the protection and renewal of natural resources

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Together for Rwanda's Development (1 Mb, 21 pages)