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05 May 2022
How UN Women led social protection programme helped vulnerable women in Rwanda overcome impact of COVID-19
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23 April 2022
Financial Institutions renewed their commitment to agricultural financing schemes
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18 April 2022
Young People in Rwanda commit to accelerate the implementation of ICPD25 action plan
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The Sustainable Development Goals in Rwanda
The Sustainable Development Goals are a global call to action to end poverty, protect the earth’s environment and climate, and ensure that people everywhere can enjoy peace and prosperity. These are the goals the UN is working on in Rwanda:
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18 April 2022
From tragedy to hope: Landslide survivors in Karongi District
A mountain gave way after intense rainfall and destroyed everything in its path. Eighteen people were killed, and at least 12 others were injured.
With funding from UNDP Rwanda, the Rwandan ministry in charge of emergency management (MINEMA) provided 222 affected households with RWF 100,000 each, to support their ability to build back better.
Three and a half years later, their recovery is on solid ground, as the families have found productive ways to invest the funds and rebuild.
Nyampeta Appolinaire, his wife Nyirayeze Domitille, and their granddaughter Muhayimana Jeanette were asleep together when Nyampeta was startled awake. “I heard the first noise but couldn’t make out what it was,” he recalls.
“In a split second, my legs were trapped under the rocks. The house had fallen on us. I immediately knew that my grandson, who was asleep in another room would not survive.”
Nyampeta was gravely wounded, and he was still in the hospital when his grandson was buried.
The family lost everything except for a hoe and two goats. For several months, they lived at a neighbors’ house. But with the support of UNDP and MINEMA, they slowly built a new house and began raising pigs for sale at a nearby livestock market. They plan to grow maize and beans where their house once stood.
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18 April 2022
Learning self-love through peer education
GATSIBO, EASTERN RWANDA – Rita became pregnant at the tender age of 18 years old and face a lot of challenges. She had to drop out of school to deal with pregnancy and raise the baby alone as the father had abandoned her. At the moment when she was confused about life, she met the peer volunteer in her community, Gilbert Ntigurirwa.
In 2020, UNICEF partnered with Society for Family Health (SFH) Rwanda to improve access to HIV services among young people aged 15-24 years in Gatsibo district. The project, called UBUZIMA BWIZA, ISHEMA RYANJYE, aims to reduce the rate of new HIV infections and pregnancies among girls and young women through peer education on reproductive health. Through peer volunteer support, youth in Rwanda gain more knowledge and confidence in addressing their needs for sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention. In 2021, over 50,000 youths were reached with HIV prevention and gender-based violence messages. About 16,000 youths received HIV testing and counseling and roughly 50,000 condoms were distributed for free through HIV outreach activities.
“Peer volunteers taught me to love myself and become a stronger person for me and my daughter,” Rita says,
“I actively participate in these programs and even took my younger sister to the youth corner. My only wish is that what happened to me never happens to my family and friends,” she concludes.
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18 April 2022
FAO Rwanda’s twofold contribution in rural women empowerment, Irrigation, and WASH
Alphonsine Mukeshimana is a farmer and mother of 8 children in Ngoma district, Eastern Rwanda near the Burundi border.
Every day for many years she made a 3-hour journey to fetch water to use at home. The water wasn’t clean.
“My children and I had to fetch very dirty water, which always caused us intestinal worms.” she said.
One day this struggle changed, thanks to the UN’s joint project ‘Rural Women Economic Empowerment (RWEE) implemented by four UN agencies. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, UN Women, World Food Programme, and International Fund for Agricultural Development.
FAO as a participating Agency built a spring catchment tap. Now it only takes Alphonsine 30 minutes to get water.
“But since you gave us clean water, we are healthy, we do not suffer from diseases related to dirty water because we now drink pure and clean water.” Said Alphonsine Mukeshimana, farmer.
The spring was initially planned for irrigation, supporting the Nkabikorera cooperative who grow maize and tomatoes. In the dry season, this spring catchment serves nine villages and around 300 people fetch clean water from here daily.
“The leadership of Ngoma district highly thanks FAO and RWEE for the tremendous and impactful activities the project continues to carry out for the betterment of people of our district especially of Jarama sector,” said Nathalie Niyonagira, Mayor of Ngoma District.
“This is what FAO, the UN is all about. To make sure that we add our modest contribution to what can make the lives of rural women conducive to unleashing their potential,” said Gualbert Gbehounou, FAO Rwanda Representative
This project was possible thanks to financial contributions from the government of Sweden through the Swedish Development Cooperation Agency and through the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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05 May 2022
How UN Women led social protection programme helped vulnerable women in Rwanda overcome impact of COVID-19
"Recovering Better and Inclusively from COVID-19 through a Sensitive Social Protection System in Rwanda”. The eight months project aimed to help socially, and economically vulnerable people recover from COVID-19 through a two-pronged but complementary approach: provision of targeted gender-responsive social safety nets and addressing gender-based violence in all its forms, because violence and deprivation are closely linked within the context of COVID-19. The programme was implemented in the cross-border districts of Nyamasheke, Musanze Nyagatare and Gatsibo.
Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a health and socio-economic crisis that saw millions of people lose their jobs and livelihoods, while the crisis disproportionately affected the lives of women and girls. To mitigate these challenges, Rwanda, like many countries across the globe, took preventive measures to curb the spread of the virus, including various lockdowns and curfews, which limited different activities while allowing only essential ones to continue.
There is no doubt that in Rwanda and across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic affected women and girls more than men, leaving them not only socio-economically vulnerable, but also exposed them to increased violence and sexual abuse.
The rapid gender assessment conducted by both UN Women and UNFPA in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF) in November 2020, showed disproportionate impacts for women in terms of unpaid work, care burden and lost income, particularly for those relying on informal businesses.
Alphonsine Mumporeze, a resident of Cyuve Sector, Musanze district, was earning a living through informal trade before the pandemic broke out. When the Government of Rwanda imposed restrictions, including lockdowns and curfews, to curb the spread, life became difficult for Mumporeze, whose household depended solely on her trade activities.
“When the pandemic broke out, everything came to a standstill. We were required to stay home and the kind of business I was involved in was considered non-essential, so we were stuck at home with nothing to eat,” Mumporeze recalls.
As the pandemic persisted, Mumporeze found herself in a vulnerable position together with the people in her household. It is a situation that was shared by many women across the country, whose lives were hard hit by the outbreak.
Findings from the Labour Force Survey (LFS-2019) indicated that over the past three years, more females were informally employed with 92.5 per cent in 2017 and 91.2 per cent in 2019, compared to males with 89.5 and 88.3 per cent in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
Informed by these findings, in August 2021 the UN Country Team launched this joint programme to effectively address the challenges faced by women like Mumporeze and many others.
The programme was developed and implemented under the leadership of UN Women Rwanda in partnership with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
New lease on life
Mumporeze was lucky to be selected among the beneficiaries of the programme. She received a grant of RWF 150,000 (148 USD), which she used to start a small-scale liquid soap manufacturing business.
Today, Mumporeze earns at least RWF 200,000(198$) from the liquid soap she manufactures and sells in her locality. Currently she is looking for ways to increase her output and expand her market.
Specifically, the project targeted female-headed households, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) survivors, teen mothers, domestic workers, and refugees, among others who were disproportionately affected by COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking on behalf of UN Women at the closeout workshop, Emma Carine Uwantege, UN Women Rwanda Representative ad interim said the project had benefited over 1,774 selected poor women-headed households in the border districts, previously dependent on informal trade, which were heavily affected by the pandemic.
Other achievements include UN Women Rwanda’s support for the Rwanda Women’s Network to continue providing it’s hotline for SGBV cases and 3,435 cases of SGBV were recorded via the Hotline, of which 934 received psychosocial support and referred to relevant service providers; 41 former domestic workers were provided with entrepreneurship and tailoring skills, as well as financial and cooperative management training for self-employment and psychosocial support.
Sixteen women’s safe spaces were each equipped with an emergency support fund for SGBV victims, and the Legal Aid Forum supported SGBV cases; fifty victims of violence were represented in court and facilitated with DNA test-search for paternity in 10 cases, 41 domestic workers were empowered and increased their skills in entrepreneurship. At least 17 of the beneficiaries have already started earning profits from their businesses.
Marie Rose Uwimana, a survivor of GBV who received legal support, narrated how she suffered spousal abuse when her husband decided to acquire another wife during the COVID-19 period, subjecting her to physical and psychological torture:
“I felt like my life and that of my two children were in peril. Thanks to UN Women’s support, I got legal protection by filing for divorce.”
Uwimana did not have the resources to start the divorce process, yet she needed urgent protection from persistent abuse.
Through the joint programme, Uwimana was linked to Legal Aid Forum (LAF) by Haguruka. They helped her through the process, and she was eventually granted a divorce by the courts.
Today when she looks back, Uwimana believes she could have easily lost her life, leaving her two children orphaned.
Uwimana said that currently she is focusing on fully recovering from the physical and psychological abuse, while at the same time looking to engage in income generating activities to improve her living conditions.
Speaking on behalf of the Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO), Josephine Marealle Ulimwengu, stated that the project was implemented amid the difficulties presented by Covid-19, but still managed to impact the lives of many despite the short implementation period.
She called on partners and stakeholders, including the Government of Rwanda, to ensure that the gains of the social protection programme are not lost, even as it came to an end, pledging continued support from the UN.
“Through the specific expertise of various UN Agencies present in the country, programmes will be supported to ensure that vulnerable groups have equitable access to opportunities,” she added.
Christine Mukarebura said that when COVID-19 hit, life was difficult. Each cooperative member was receiving 1,100 Rwandan Francs (1$) weekly but with the UN Women grant, members received an increased share of 22,000 Rwandan francs (21$), which she uses to improve her life and family’s wellbeing.
According to Janviere Mukantwali, UN Women Rwanda Programme Specialist, many achievements were registered through the different implementing partners, which included the Local Administrative Entities Development Agency (LODA), Legal Aid Forum (LAF), Faith Victory Association (FVA), AJIPRODHO Jijukirwa, Rwanda Women’s Network (RNW) and the National Association of People Living with HIV (ANSP).
Immaculée Mukarwego Umuhoza, on behalf of LODA, said that central and local government entities charged with social protection, will ensure that the achievements of the programme are sustained and replicated in other parts of the country.
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21 April 2022
Financial Institutions renewed their commitment to agricultural financing schemes
through its technical assistance to SAIP (Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Food Security Project), convened a roundtable discussion with members of financial institutions and insurance companies in Rwanda. The discussion was about charting a way forward to building a strong synergy that spurs, fosters, and improves the agricultural financing scheme for small-scale and rural agribusinesses.
“We really need your support because you are the ones who know exactly how agribusinesses need to be tailored so you finance them. Together we can stimulate investments and enhance the development of private investments in agribusiness and agroindustry and contribute to inclusiveness and poverty reduction.” Said Jean Claude Karemera, Senior Value Chain Development Specialist at Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board -SAIP.
Many agribusiness proposals don’t get investments and reverse to just being business ideas, and others especially youth-owned don’t celebrate an anniversary, they die simply because they were not well-conceived to be bankable and profitable.
“ Let’s face it. We all know that Agricultural projects are risky. And we bankers it’s something we don’t take lightly. We need to finance proposals that show that the agripreneur understands risks, demonstrates the ability to mitigate them and make a profit, and in proposals, we need to see supporting documents showing there is extensive experience in doing what the agripreneur wants to do. If bank statements and tax clearance forms are available, we need to analyze them as well.” Said Jean-Paul Nzatumukuze, Acting Agriculture Portfolio Manager at Rwanda Development Bank (BRD).
Youth need accessible agricultural financial schemes
Youth in Rwandan agri-food systems represent a reservoir of employment opportunities for many young people, from both urban and rural areas. Youth are attracted to value chains that are profitable, have a ready market, require low starting capital, are agro-ecologically suitable, offer a short duration to reach maturity, and require less land. Interestingly, youth still see more opportunities around primary production, followed by trading and transportation of produce. Yet, even though they hold potential in agri-business, they lack experience and resources to take up their business operations to market levels requirements in terms of both quantity and quality. An accessible financial scheme that not only gives youth financial assistance but also financial education on loans and investment would mean a great deal.
“ Banks are in the business and we can see that many businesses in the future will be related to agriculture. Help farmers craft bankable projects, it is actually a win-win situation for us. Because good proposals are the blueprint of business implementation and it helps us be sure that we will not lose when we finance a project. To make everyone’s task easy I think during these gatherings we should provide a checklist of what makes a good bankable proposal” said Odile Mukayiranga Odile, Agribusiness Manager at Bank Populaire du Rwanda (BPR).
The role of RuralInvest
“ Thanks to the RuralInvest toolkit investments can be improved. The toolkit specifically has steps and areas of all needed information an entrepreneur has to include in his/her proposals. We have to scale up training on the toolkit so every farmer knows how to navigate it and be able to pitch agri projects that stand a good chance before financial institutions” said Hodari Ngerero, RuralInvest Master Trainer.
RuralInvest is a free toolkit designed to support entrepreneurs develop bankable, solid, and sustainable business proposals. The toolkit comprises user-friendly software, an e-learning course, tailored face-to-face training, user manuals, and a worldwide community of users. Through a participatory and bottom-up approach, RuralInvest methodology brings together local communities, rural entrepreneurs, government field technicians, project staff, and financing institutions to identify, prepare, evaluate and finance small-and medium-size sustainable rural investment projects.
The roundtable discussion with members of financial institutions and insurance companies left a number of recommendations that include the need to strengthen the synergy of FAO, Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board-SAIP, and other many more Financial Institutions and to enhance FAO’s efforts to advance and scale up its initiatives to promote shock-responsive and smart-agriculture.
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18 April 2022
Young People in Rwanda commit to accelerate the implementation of ICPD25 action plan
The Ministry of Health in collaboration with UNFPA and AfriYAN organized a stakeholder’s reflection meeting on the implementation of Rwanda ICPD25 commitments to self-evaluate on the progress made since the dissemination of the action plan and shaping the next steps towards achieving the Rwanda commitments with a focus on the meaningful youth participation towards achieving the universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights by 2030.
In his opening remarks Minister of State in the Ministry of Health Dr. Tharcisse MPUNGA stressed the role of Rwanda ICPD25 Commitments towards the achievement of the SDGs and recommended stakeholders for their tireless support towards the realization of social economic conditions for all Rwandans.
“The Rwanda ICPD25 Commitments are part of the enormous momentum around efforts to achieve the SDGs, including a renewed commitment to “health for all.” Said Dr. MPUNGA Tharcisse
Rwanda in collaboration with development partners have adopted the reintegration of Comprehensive Sexuality Education program in school curriculum to advance the Increase demand for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health service.
“Our role as a Ministry is to keep educating our young girls on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. One of our areas of commitment under the ICPD25 Commitments regards Teenage Pregnancies. We have a big role to play in preventing them." Dr Uwamariya Valentine, Minister of Education
“Our commitment is to ensure proper accountability on issues affecting us. We aim to be at the forefront of the realization of the commitments for a country where we live a quality life with dignity, capacity and opportunity to realize our full potential.” Evode Niyibizi, Country Director AfriYAN Rwanda.
The validated Rwanda Action Plan prioritizes achieving zero unmet need for family planning, zero preventable maternal deaths, and zero gender-based violence and practices that harm women and girls, all by 2030. UNFPA reiterated its full and continued commitment to support the Government of Rwanda and all partners in advancing the ICPD agenda.
“Let me re-affirm UNFPA’s commitment and support to the implementation of the Commitments and to our continued collaboration and partnership as we ensure that the ICPD25 Commitments are achieved in Rwanda.” Kwabena Asante Ntiamoah, UNFPA Representative.
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18 April 2022
From humanitarian assistance recipients to entrepreneurs
Growing up in Kiziba Refugee Camp, Iribagiza Nakabonye and her family from the Democratic Republic of Congo were heavily relying on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs. Now, the 40-year-old woman who has been living in the camp since 1996, is inspiring self-reliance among the refugees and host communities through farming and selling foodstuffs.
“Venturing into small businesses has significantly changed my life,” Nakabonye says. “I no longer depend on humanitarian assistance. I am a proud entrepreneur whose activities benefit not only my family but also other refugees and our host community.”
At Kiziba refugee camp, located in Karongi District in the western part of Rwanda, the mother of seven works together with other four refugee women at ‘Best Future Women Company’, a venture they established a few years ago. They run a restaurant in the refugee camp and do farming activities in the neighbouring community as well.
Their company supplies foods and beverages for various events and activities in the camp. They have also been growing maize and Irish potatoes over the last six years, on more than 3 hectares of land they leased.
As an example of how profitable their business is, Nakabonye says that in March and April 2021, Best Future Women Company secured a tender to supply lunch, snacks, and beverages, banking Frw 8 million (8000 USD) profit in just two months.
“We invested Rwf 5 million (5000 USD) and registered a turnover of Rwf 13 million (13000 USD) through supplying foods and beverages in two months. That’s not bad for us,” Nakabonye proudly shares.
They also play key role in promoting environmental protection and disaster risk reduction. The land in Karongi, where the Kiziba refugee camp is located is hilly and sloppy, and thus prone to soil erosion. Their farming activity, planting different crops in rotation, creating water channels and radical terraces are preventing landslides.
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18 March 2022
UN deputy chief urges Resident Coordinators in Africa to maximize their convening power to rescue the SDGs
The UN Deputy Secretary-General urged UN Resident Coordinators across Africa to turn a broad range of profound challenges into opportunities with their convening power to support countries for much-needed transformation to “rescue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
Following the opening ceremony of the eighth Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development on Thursday, Amina J. Mohammed met with Resident Coordinators who gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, from all over the continent.
The annual meeting brought a critical touch-point opportunity to identify common priorities, challenges, and ways to overcome them towards the achievement of the SDGs in the Decade of Action and African Union’s Agenda 2063.
“Now, the central issue for us is how we will rescue the SDGs and how we are going to bring the UN system along with us. So your coordinating and convening roles will be leaned upon a big-time,” said Ms. Mohammed.
Speaking to 29 Resident Coordinators physically present at the Kigali Convention Center and others virtually, she tabled a wide spectrum of emerging issues facing Africa.
On the COVID-19 pandemic, she noted that Africa would be left behind on the recovery until everyone gets vaccines, stressing the lack of vaccine equity. She touched on widening gaps in digital connectivity, looming debt crisis, all too slow progress in gender equality, and Africa on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
Ms. Mohammed also raised concerns over political, economic, ethnic, and social tensions fueled by inequalities, adding human rights abuses, violence against women, armed conflicts, terrorism and other political instabilities.
In addition, she underlined that the current pace of progress in Africa is not fast enough to achieve the SDGs by 2030, pointing out that the continent has regressed on SDG 13 on climate action and SDG 16 regarding peace, justice, and strong institutions.
However, the Deputy Secretary-General emphasized the importance of looking at each of these challenges as “huge opportunities.” “We do have the solutions. We do have the UN footprint. We do have the expertise. We have the leverage and convening power that together can pull us out of many of these situations,” she said.
The UN reforms have brought strategic planning tools that Resident Coordinators can tap into to capture the thinking of a country and translate it to programs that bring together the collective contribution of a UN team to the realization of international and national development visions.
In particular, she told Resident Coordinators, as the senior-most representative of the Secretary-General in countries, to find entry points into making a case for more investments and targeting important areas of the economy in Africa that will have multiplier effects to deal with inequalities, gender, and rights of women, children and youth unemployment.
“We need to give some mega dividends for the investments that we are putting into this continent with our footprint and I think we can do that,” she said.
Exploring this year’s priorities, Ms. Mohammed called on them to continue making synergies a reality among the UN’s humanitarian, sustainable development and peacebuilding efforts, to save lives and livelihoods.
As the UN Country Teams in 19 African countries are formulating new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks this year, she said that another priority was to seize the opportunity to show the UN’s renewed ambition and relevance to help governments reignite the SDGs through the development of the Cooperation Frameworks.
Attending the gathering virtually, Robert Piper, Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the UN Development Coordination Office (DCO), sounded the alarm over the severe impact of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine brought to the African continent. The sudden shock of the crisis is expected to bring turbulence to commodity prices, the banking system, debt crisis, fiscal space, and much more.
Yacoub El-Hillo, DCO Regional Director for Africa, said, “In the context of the UN reforms and UN system, if there is any group of actors that shoulder the leadership responsibility, it is this group. We have the contingent of Resident Coordinators.” Moderating the meeting, he encouraged all the Resident Coordinators to share lessons with others as a collective group, especially on the new-generation Cooperation Frameworks as 17 UN Country Teams in Africa already started implementing them in 2021.
Stephen Jackson, Resident Coordinator in Kenya, stressed that the Cooperation Framework must be built on a solid Common Country Analysis and a “leave no one behind” analysis to tackle inequalities. “We need to be looking in a granular way at where the inequality is impacting. It needs to be data-driven, and it needs to be real-time and updated all the time,” he said.
Speaking on the climate-action opportunities, Catherine Sozi, Resident Coordinator in Ethiopia, underscored the criticality of leveraging the nexus among humanitarian, sustainable development, and peace efforts by working with partners to support resilience-building even during the crisis. “Our aim is to ensure that the government’s large-scale reconstruction, rehabilitation and recovery plan for northern Ethiopia will incorporate principles of ‘build back better’ that leaves no one behind,” she said.
Asked about prevention measures faced with the cost of rising insecurity eclipsing the hard-won SDG gains, Anthony Ohemeng-Boamah, Resident Coordinator in Mauritania, said that we have to promote more peaceful and inclusive societies. “We have to work on the justice front, and we have to uphold accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels,” he said.
As the Resident Coordinator in Egypt, where COP 27 – Africa’s climate change conference –is scheduled in November 2022, Elena Panova highlighted the unique opportunity of shifting from pledges to action to see how the pledges are being delivered on the ground and showcase climate solutions on the ground.
After listening to many other Resident Coordinators raise a wide range of priority issues to make a big SDG push, Ms. Mohammed told them that the Secretary-General’s report on “Our Common Agenda” will serve to “put the wind beneath the wings of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2060” as a booster to accelerate their efforts, and harvest results on an annual basis.
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Press Release
14 December 2021
Partnership between Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and UN Rwanda
The Government of Switzerland through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) represented by the Deputy Head of Cooperation, and the United Nations in Rwanda represented by the UN Resident Coordinator, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of the third phase of the Joint Nutrition Project. The project aims at effectively fighting stunting in Rwanda. The signed MoU will be implemented by four Participating UN Agencies namely the World Food Programme (WFP), Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and World Health Organization (WHO).
Kigali, 9th December 2021 - Through the UN Rwanda Sustainable Development Fund (SDF), the Joint Nutrition Project to which SDC will financially contribute up to 4,950,000 CHF (5,316,863 USD) will strengthen the Government of Rwanda’s capacity in an effective and equity-focused policy formulation, strategic planning, coordination, M&E and domestic funds mobilization. Different sectors including WASH, ECD, health, social protection, education, and agriculture, along with increased participation of private sector and civil society actors for sustained gains will benefit from this support.
The project postulate is that well-equipped service providers working in the targeted sectors provide quality nutrition-related services to communities contributing to the reduction of malnutrition including stunting in children. As a result, empowered communities in targeted districts improve their nutrition situation through creating better access to and consumption of a variety of nutrient-dense foods, early identification, and prevention of cases of malnutrition-decreased risk of infectious and diarrheal diseases through improved hygiene and health practices, and increased resilience against shocks.
“SDC encourages the active participation of men and women in promoting the access to nutrition related services. The experience has shown that women are the main recipients of nutrition related counseling and services as they are the ones who often accompany their children to health centers. Therefore the access to nutritional care will also be insured for men as well as for women, girls and boys from all ages and categories of the population” ensures Peter Lindenmann, Deputy Regional Director
Commenting on this renewed great partnership of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the United Nations in Rwanda, the UN Resident Coordinator Fodé Ndiaye commended the continued good collaboration between the two institutions in striving to achieve all Sustainable Development Goals especially SDG 2 Zero Hunger which cuts across all SDGs.
“The UN values the ongoing strong partnership with the Government of Switzerland both globally and here in Rwanda to accompany the UN reforms and accelerate the implementation of the agenda 2030. This new Memorandum of Understanding will contribute to supporting Rwanda’s continued and impressive development. I am strongly convinced that this partnership will have a clear impact on people’s lives, leaving no One Behind.” said Fodé Ndiaye, UN Resident Coordinator
Thanks to the Government of Rwanda since 2000, there have been significant declines in stunting prevalence among children under five. From as high as 52% in 2005, stunting prevalence has dropped by 19 percentage points to 33% in the last Rwanda Demographic Health Survey (RDHS) survey in 2019-2020. Nonetheless, stunting remains high and above the public health threshold of severity (30%) according to WHO classification, still far from the national target at 19% to be reached by 2024. The efforts of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the United Nations in Rwanda are undoubtedly instrumental to moving a needle towards the eradication of stunting and malnutrition in Rwanda.
About the United Nations in Rwanda
The United Nations system in Rwanda consists of 22 UN agencies, programmes, and funds, both resident and non-resident.
Since the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, the UN system has been a fundamental partner in the reconstruction of Rwanda. Since 2008, they have been delivering as one: ‘One UN’. This means one leader – the UN Resident Coordinator; one budget; one programme – the five-year Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP II); and one voice. ‘One UN’ capitalizes on the strengths and comparative advantages of the different UN agencies in the UN system and calls for coordinated endeavors for achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to Transform Our World that was set out in Agenda 2030.
Between 2018-2023, the One UN Rwanda has budgeted around US$631 million to assist the country in its development.
About the SDC
The Great Lakes region, comprised of Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern DRC, is a priority region for the South Cooperation Department of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). In the Great Lakes region, Switzerland works to further peace and stability, reduce poverty and protect civilians. It helps to strengthen democratic processes, respect for human rights, social cohesion and employment, especially for young people. In line with Switzerland’s diplomatic and political efforts, these activities aim at strengthening the capacities of local people to overcome crises and challenges.
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For more info:
Maureen Twahirwa
Communications and Advocacy Officer
United Nations Resident Coordinator Office
maureen.twahirwa@un.org
+250788301153
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Press Release
14 December 2021
Sweden and UN Rwanda partnership
Kigali, 8th December 2021: The Government of Sweden represented by the Ambassador of Sweden to Rwanda, and the United Nations in Rwanda represented by the UN Resident Coordinator are signing an amendment to its agreement of cooperation that will further enhance the UN capacity to implement its United Nations Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP II 2018 – 2023), contributing to the Government’s National Strategy for Transformation (NST 1: 2017-2024) and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Sweden is contributing an additional 4 million USD bringing its total contribution to 10,7 million USD over the period 2019-2024. The funding will be channeled through the UN Rwanda Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) and allocated by the UN Country Team to selected joint programmes, including in the areas of inclusive economic growth, climate resilience, gender equality, human rights and justice and good governance. Globally, Sweden is also one of the largest core contributors of UN agencies and a champion of UN reforms.
“This additional contribution to the Sustainable Development Fund is a sign of Sweden’s unwavering commitment to both multilateralism and sustainable development in Rwanda. Through this strengthened partnership, the UN and Sweden will jointly support Rwandan partners in their efforts to reach the poorest people and ensuring no-one is left behind. Supporting Rwanda’s commitment to an inclusive and green recovery is key”, says H.E. Ambassador of Sweden, Johanna Teague.
“This partnership will boost our collective efforts to achieve desired UN reforms to engineer inclusive and Sustainable Development, carrying out result based activities and Leaving no One Behind, for the betterment of all Rwandans” said Fodé Ndiaye, UN Resident Coordinator
He added “The United Nations in Rwanda highly thank the Government and people of Sweden through SIDA for not only this partnership but also a strong and effective collaboration the Agency has with the One UN since 2008. Your renewed commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals is paramount”
The UN and Sweden underlined the desire to join efforts to support the Government of Rwanda to successfully implement the NST 1 based on the country’s vision 2050, taking into account the Agendas 2030 and 2063.
For more info:
Maureen Twahirwa
Communications and Advocacy Officer
United Nations Resident Coordinator Office
maureen.twahirwa@un.org
+250788301153
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Press Release
09 December 2021
Policy Forum on Shock-Responsive Social Protection in Rwanda to Strengthen Response to Climate-Related Shocks
This is the first forum in Rwanda bringing together the sectors of social protection, disaster management and other relevant sectors to discuss opportunities for more climate-sensitive and shock-responsive social protection in Rwanda. This comes at a time when around the world, social protection has been identified as crucial in mitigating disasters and shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rwanda is affected by frequent and unpredictable climate hazards such as heavy rains and long dry spells. These lead to localized shocks such as flooding, landslides and drought. During 2015–17 alone, Rwanda’s Ministry of Emergency Management (MINEMA) recorded 1,800 localized small-scale disasters. These small but frequent disasters undermine the resilience of communities, destroy livelihoods and jeopardize household food and nutrition security. As climate change is predicted to accelerate over the coming decades, shocks are also expected to affect more people.
Rwanda’s social protection system has expanded significantly in the last two decades with the institution of policy frameworks and programmes to cushion households against poverty and improve their wellbeing. However, enhancing the linkages between the national social protection and disaster management systems has become a priority for the Government of Rwanda to help mitigate the consequences of shocks from climate change and other unexpected events, such as COVID-19.
Today’s forum will discuss entry points for enhancing the Government’s Vision Umurenge Programme and other social protection programmes’ contribution to resilience and opportunities to enhance emergency preparedness, response, and recovery actions. The forum also aims to identify possible mechanisms to finance shock-responsive social protection.
“The Government has put in place institutions, programmes and policies to mitigate, prevent, and quickly respond to shocks. These include the Vision Umurenge Programme (VUP) to protect poor households against livelihood shocks, as well as community-based health insurance, Ejo HEZA, and agriculture insurance,” said Hon. Ingabire Assumpta, Minister of State in charge of Social Affairs, MINALOC. “We will continue to strengthen mechanisms to prevent, detect, and respond to disasters and shocks, to build institutional capacity for poverty and vulnerability analysis and targeting, and strengthen the capacity of local governments to design and implement disaster risk reduction interventions,” Hon. Ingabire Assumpta added.
The forum builds on an assessment conducted by WFP in 2020, on behalf of Rwanda’s Social Protection Sector Working Group, which focused on opportunities for more climate-sensitive and shock-responsive social protection to minimize the effects shocks have on poverty in Rwanda.
“Social protection plays a central role in managing climate risks – this can include providing support to households during and after climatic shocks as well as building long-term community resilience through better assets and skills to adapt to climate change,” said Edith Heines, WFP Representative and Country Director. “There is not one blueprint for what shock-responsive social protection means, so it is essential to have this dialogue and agree on priority approaches and investments for the unique Rwandan context. What is certain is that one sector alone cannot deal with the risks and costs posed by disasters,” Edith Heines further added.
The forum is organized in the context of the UN Joint Programme on Social Protection launched in 2020 to contribute to the Government’s current needs and vision for the social protection sector. The joint programme seeks to contribute to achieving the ambitious SDG targets of eliminating poverty and hunger, significantly reducing inequalities while working in a climate-smart manner.
END.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Emily Fredenberg, WFP Rwanda
Email: emilyjean.fredenberg@wfp.org
Resident Coordinator's Office (RCO):
Maureen Twahirwa,
Email: maureen.twahirwa@un.org
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Press Release
21 June 2021
Ange Kagame shares Parenting Tips on Developing Children’s Brain through Play
In the video, Ange Kagame talks about how a baby’s brain develops most in the first 1,000 days at a pace never repeated again. She also highlights the role of both parents, male and female in the overall development of their baby.
In the earliest years of life, a child’s brain develops at an astounding speed of more than 1 million new neural connections every second. This period offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape a child’s ability to learn, grow, form healthy relationships, and contribute fully to society in adulthood.
Parents are the key providers of health, nutrition, stimulation, opportunities for early learning, and protection that babies need for healthy brain development. Another area where parents can contribute significantly to a child’s development is by playing with the baby. This helps babies learn and build crucial life skills – from problem-solving to expressing ideas – and strengthening the bond between child and parent.
Parenting is one of the most challenging jobs in the world and now COVID-19 has placed even more pressure on parents and caregivers to support their children’s learning and development, keep their households functioning, and look after their families’ wellbeing.
The video explains the various techniques such as ‘serve and return’ that parents can use to strengthen their bond with their babies while ensuring their holistic development.
Link to the video can be found here: https://youtu.be/EKmfp8L_chA
Additional parenting resources can be found at www.unicef.org/parenting/
About UNICEF UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org. Follow UNICEF on Twitter and Facebook
About UNICEF UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org. Follow UNICEF on Twitter and Facebook
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Press Release
10 May 2021
European Union provides €500,000 to WFP for COVID-19 recovery in Rwanda
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes €500,000 from the European Union (EU) to provide technical support to Rwanda’s COVID-19 recovery efforts.
With this contribution, WFP will support Government efforts to ensure that social protection is expanded to the most vulnerable and food insecure Rwandans and responds to the unique challenges presented by the pandemic.
The new funding will also support evidence generation on food security, markets, and supply chains to inform the Government and partners in their investments in COVID-19 recovery.
“To ensure an effective COVID-19 recovery, it is vital for Rwanda to harness strategic technical expertise that will strengthen its social protection and food security systems to efficiently support national economic recovery," said Ambassador Nicola Bellomo, Head of the EU Delegation in Rwanda.
WFP has widely recognized expertise in food security analysis and a close partnership with the Government in social protection. WFP will work to assist the Local Administrative Entities Development Agency on national systems for social protection targeting, monitoring and evaluation and feedback to support the response to vulnerabilities associated with COVID-19.
“The Government’s response to mobilizing the social protection system as a key platform for the COVID-19 response has been impressive to date,” said Edith Heines, WFP Rwanda Representative and Country Director.
“With this generous support, WFP will help the Government make the national social protection system even more shock-responsive, building on the lessons learned from the pandemic.”
This support is a contribution to the ongoing food security and vulnerability analysis as well as to food market and supply chain monitoring and their recovery from COVID-19.
This contribution is 100 percent funded by the EU under the Sector Reform Contract to enhance the agriculture sector's sustainable use of land and water resources, value creation and contribution to nutrition security through its budget support action in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
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Follow us on Twitter: @wfp_africa, @EdithHeinesWFP, @EUinRW, @nicolabellomo
For more information please contact:
Emily Fredenberg, WFP/Kigali, Email: emilyjean.fredenberg@wfp.org, Mobile: +250 789 451 347
Amparo Gonzalez Diez, Delegation of the European Union to Rwanda, Email: Amparo.GONZALEZ-DIEZ@eeas.europa.eu Mobile: +250788198117
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