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Rwanda’s Eastern Province landscapes to be restored under TREPA project
Modeste BIZIMANA | 23/12/2022
Preparing to the implementation of TREPA (Transforming Eastern Province through Adaptation) project, a joint planning for site selection and refining collaboration framework (MoU) for TREPA Project convened on 20-22/12/2022 in Nyagatare District, Eastern Province of Rwanda to re-assess and validate the degradation map of the entire Eastern Province to be restored by TREPA Project. The workshop brought together key Representatives from TREPA Implementing Partners: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Rwanda Forestry Authority (RFA) and Enabel, as key Implementing Entities and other service provider like the International Center for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), World Vision and Cordaid; and District staffs (District Forest Officer and the Director of Agriculture and Natural Resources) from 7 Eastern Province Districts of TREPA intervention. Through exercise of re-assessing and exchanging on produced degradation map where all assessed degradation sites (excluding infrastructure) as categorized in moderate, high and very high (See degradation map) was agreed to be given priority by TREPA project and ensure their restoration. The exercise was consisted also of selecting degraded landscapes and sites of around 60,000 ha (as per TREPA project target) to be restored into climate resilient ecosystems through reforestation, agroforestry, restoration of pasturelands and soil erosion control measures in seven districts of the eastern province namely Kirehe, Kayonza, Gatsibo, Nyagatare, Rwamagana, Ngoma and Bugesera Districts.As outcomes, the workshop come up with (1) an updated site selection-criteria, (2) 4 priority landscapes (500 ha or more per each) selected in each District (using degradation map) to be restored in the year 2023, (3) other 11 landscapes per District to be restored in the project years ahead (2024-2027), (4) 4 priority landscapes per District for silvopastoral intervention, (5) clear roadmap for ground truthing and mapping all selected and validated sites and landscapes to be restored by TREPA project and (6) a plan for drafting a Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU) to be signed between IUCN, RFA, Enabel and Districts.
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Launch of the TREPA project at the Eastern Province of Rwanda
Modeste BIZIMANA | 23/12/2022
The Eastern Province, due to its specific climate (characterized by frequent and prolonged rainfall deficits and droughts), high dependence on subsistence rain fed agriculture, lower forest cover, is among the country province with the largest challenge of degradation that need to be addressed. This was disclosed during the official TREPA Technical Kick Off convened on 02, December 2022 at NTENDE Hotel in Gatsibo District. TREPA (Transforming Eastern Province through Adaptation) project, a Green Climatic funded project, aims at restoring around 60,000 ha of drought degraded landscapes into climate resilient ecosystems through reforestation, agroforestry, restoration of pasturelands and soil erosion control measures in seven districts of the eastern province such as Rwamagana, Nyagatare, Kirehe, Kayonza, Gatsibo, Ngoma and Bugesera Districts. The workshop was an occasion for TREPA project implementing partners such as MoE, IUCN, ENABEL, RAF, World Vision, ICRAF, Cordaid and Eastern Province and District Officials to share and discuss on TREPA project intended activities and deliberate on implementation plan, approaches and collaboration framework to use towards successful implementation of the project. In her welcome remarks, the Eastern Province Executive Secretary, Dr. Jeanne NYIRAHABIMANA shared with the workshop audience the EP particularity and need for restoration, noting that EP is among the granary of the country that sustain the life of the country population. “We are very proud to welcome to TREPA project and its team in the Eastern Province and given the current status of Eastern province’s land that need to be restored, our people are ready to work with the project in reversing land degradation and build climate resilient ecosystems” she said. In his opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Mr. Patrick Karera recalls for concerted efforts and investment to support the Government willing to address development challenges owing to climate change through mobilization of investment and projects that impact on the community wellbeing and environment protection. He noted that EP is among the country parts that need more attention in regard to increasing drought, land degradation, poor soil productivity, increasing vulnerability to climate change and consequent poverty of its people, and that TREPA project is coming as a solution to these challenges that EP population in particular and Rwandans in general are requested to own and get benefit from it. During the workshop, project team and District Officials discussed on the use of community approach in TREPA project implementation, like a good way of involving the community in the project implementation. Chief Of Party (COP) of TREPA project, Mr. HABIMANA Olivier noted that Community approach is highly recommended to be used in TREPA Project as it will ensure increased ownership of project activities and improved technical and financial capacity to them.Already proposed TREPA project Hubs by Project Management Unit (PMU) such as Ngoma TREPA Hub, Gatsibo TREPA Hub, and Rwamagana TREPA Hub were officially validated with project beneficiaries and their urgent equipping and operationalization by all concerned TREPA project implementing entities and service providers was recommended by the workshop. Drafting a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be signed between implementing entities and Districts was urged by the workshop and District legal adviser was requested to be part of MoU drafting and validation.
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Rwanda: Drug prevention and social reintegration of former drug users in 7 districts of intervention of Barame project
Denise NSANGA | 21/12/2022
AVSI-IDA Rwanda in partnership with Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) and Enabel co-organized workshops with authorities from the seven districts of interventions of Barame project, from 12-16 December 2022, to discuss strategies to strengthen the anti-drug committees for prevention and social reintegration of former drug users. The workshops were organized following the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Local Government, to come up with strategies to strengthen the anti-drug committees, including co-developing a work plan through which such committees will implement their activities at the community level. Seven anti-drug committees shall be strengthened at district level and 105 committees at sector level, equaling the total number of sectors in the seven districts of the project’s intervention. The work plans which are co-developed with the district provide guidance to the established anti-drug committees to implement activities related to community information and mobilization aiming at drug abuse prevention and the social reintegration of former drug users. Under the funding from Enabel, the Joint-venture of AVSI Rwanda and IDA Rwanda have been implementing the Barame project entitled “The Preparation and Implementation of a Comprehensive Awareness Program towards Drugs and Substance Abuse and Comprehensive Approach towards Social Reintegration of the Drug Users, for Adolescents, in Gakenke, Gisagara, Karongi, Nyamasheke, Nyarugenge, Rulindo, and Rusizi districts. The project seeks to raise awareness towards preventing drugs and substance abuse in the seven districts, and to facilitate the social reintegration of former drug users aged 10-24 years into their families and communities. The project is being implemented with the technical support of the Mental Health Division of RBC and its activities include “Strengthening of established anti-drug committees from district up to the cell level”, by developing and organizing ongoing programs for prevention of drug abuse, treatment and rehabilitation, supply reduction at community level.
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The kick-off workshop for the Thematic Portfolio on Social Protection in Central Africa convenes in Rwanda
Denise NSANGA | 28/11/2022
Kigali, 28 November 2022 – The first workshop for the Thematic Portfolio on Social Protection in Central Africa was organised in Kigali, whereby the program teamsrom the three implementing countries namely the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Rwanda – the host- participate in this five-day workshop. The workshop was organized to purposely support the Portfolio team in Rwanda, Uganda and DRC to review and update the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) plan, including the Theory of Change and result chains, the M&E framework, data collections, processing, and reporting systems, and to develop a baseline report as the foundation of a sound and integrated M&E system for the portfolio interventions. The workshop is also expected to initiate dynamic of exchanges and coherence of portfolio reports at regional level. The Thematic Portfolio on Social Protection in Central Africa is a five-year (2022-2026) programme, funded by the Kingdom of Belgium, to sustainably improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable populations by investing in social protection systems and decent work, and to promote sustainable, inclusive, and socioeconomic development in the Great Lakes Region. The programme targets both active and non-active, women (50% of beneficiaries) and young people aged 16-30 in the formal and informal economy and in precarious jobs. More specifically, beneficiaries include micro and small firms (with special attention to persons with disabilities), para-social workers in border districts of interventions, Health and Child Labour committees, trade unions’ employees, Labour representatives and Labour inspectors. In Rwanda, the intervention zone consists of the City of Kigali as well as the Kivu Belt, focusing on five border districts: Rubavu, Karongi, Rusizi, Rutsiro and Nyamasheke). However, certain activities such as radio campaigns to raise awareness on decent work, capacity building of institutional actors and the development of sectoral collective agreements will cover the whole country.
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The Ministry of Health and Enabel publish three studies on Adolescents’ Health in Rwanda
Denise NSANGA | 25/11/2022
Kigali, 24 November 2022 – The Ministry of Health in collaboration with Enabel, the Belgian development agency, has published three studies on Adolescents’ Health in Rwanda. The studies were presented in a high-level dissemination meeting that brought together governmental and non-governmental organisations and stakeholders, to discuss research findings and recommendations for more targeted strategies regarding Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) and drug abuse.The three studies are: - Prevalence of drugs and substance abuse amongst adolescents “A pilot study in 7 districts” - The assessment of the quality of youth corners and other related youth friendly services at the health centers and expectations of young people and the community. - Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) study on Adolescents and Sexual and Reproductive Health services to strengthen the Youth-Friendly Centre services regarding ASRH.They were conducted in the framework of Enabel’s Barame project which focuses on the Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health in Rwanda. The purpose of these studies is to provide a view of the current situation on Adolescents’ health and to establish a baseline in order to develop specific activities aimed to address the identified gaps and to elaborate better targeted strategies. Speaking at the event, the Minister of Health, Dr. Daniel Ngamije said that the drugs and alcohol abuse can put adolescents at increased risk of significant harm, including overdose, motor vehicle crashes, violent behavior, and consequences of unwanted sexual intercourse including early pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection. These three studies will help to carry out evidence-based prevention campaigns and to improve the quality of youth corners and other related youth friendly services in Rwanda.In his remarks, the Ambassador of Belgium in Rwanda, Bert Versmessen said “We want to see a young generation well informed to make its own decisions for a better future. The contribution of Enabel’s Barame project to these studies gave us a big picture and helped to identify the gaps where we should orient our efforts. Youth problems are crosscutting and multifactorial. They require close collaboration between different actors with the overall aim to support young people in making their life choices. We remain committed to the partnership with the Ministry of Health and other key players who have an interest in building a healthy and prosperous nation.” The studies were carried out in seven districts of intervention of Enabel’s Barame project, namely Gisagara in the Southern Province, Rulindo and Gakenke in the Northern Province, Karongi, Nyamasheke and Rusizi in the Western Province and Nyarugenge in the City of Kigali and targeted young adults aged between 13 and 24. ----------------END--------------
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A new Youth-Friendly Centre was launched in Nyamasheke District, Western Province of Rwanda
Denise NSANGA | 14/11/2022
The Nyamasheke Youth-Friendly Centre was launched on 11 November 2022 in Kagano Sector, Nyamaseke District. Renovated and equipped with the support of Enabel’s Barame project, the Centre will deliver Adolescent, Sexual & Reproductive Health (ASRH) services to Nyamasheke Youth. Started in January 2021, the programme aims at enhancing Youth-Friendly Centres to deliver high-quality youth-friendly services among young people and adolescents including Adolescent, Sexual and Reproductive Health services, improving young people's knowledge of ASRH and prevention of Gender-Based Violenve and drug abuse. In addition, Youth Friendly Centres were provided with equipment to enable the youth play, socialise and acquire economic skills including sewing, shoe making, hair dressing to name but a few. The Youth-Friendly Centres were renovated or constructed and equipped in partnership with the Ministry of Youth, Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) and Society for Family Health (SFH) Rwanda. In total, eight Youth Friendly Centres have been renovated and equipped with Belgian support in the framework of Enabel's Barame project. They were reinforced in the seven districts of Barame intervention namely Karongi, Nyamasheke and Rusizi in the Western Province, Gisagara in the Southern Province, Gakenke and Rulindo in the Northern Province and two centres in Nyarugenge district, City of Kigali.
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Rwanda: Thinning action for a sustainable forest management
Denise NSANGA | 04/11/2022
Enabel in collaboration with Rwanda Forestry Authority and BioMasster (company experienced in pellet production) conducted a 2-day master training on forest plantations thinning. Held on 03-04 November 2022 in Rwamagana district, Eastern Province, the training brought together Forest technicians Technicians from Gakenke, Gicumbi, Rulindo and Rwamagana districts, Forest Specialists from Enabel’s TREPA project, Rwanda Forestry Authority and Private Forest Management Units (PFMU) cooperative leaders to reshape their skills in forest management with focus on thinning practice. Forest thinning was understood as a forest management practice that consists of removing some tree stems (poor and defective ones) to leave strong and healthy tree stems to grow well and get optimum yield, practice which is now recommended to be applied in PFMU plantation to better manage and optimise the growth and production of the forests. The practical part of the training was conducted in a 48ha private owned forests lastly restored by the former Belgian funded project FMBE (Forest management and woody biomass energy support 2017-2021) using Private Forest Management Units approach. During the training, 27 participants learnt HOW and WHEN thinning in forest plantation should be well performed. They will in turn train their colleague forest technicians and PFMU cooperative members and apply acquired knowledge towards proper management of forest resources and increased impact on environment protection and on community livelihoods.
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In Rwanda, the use of Ultrasound Digital tool enables changes
Denise NSANGA | 18/10/2022
Enabel’s Health intervention, in partnership with Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, is providing ultrasound machines to Health Centers as well as tablets for timely and digital reporting. Since July 2021, Enabel provided 83 ultrasound machines to Health Centers in two of the districts of intervention, namely Karongi and Rusizi in Rwanda’s Western Province, and trained midwives on the use of the ultrasounds. The move aims to support Rwanda’s Ministry of Health to adopt the World Health Organization’s recommendation for all pregnant women to receive one ultrasound scan during the Antenatal Care Service and before 24 weeks to estimate gestational age, improve early detection of anomalies and improve pregnancy experience. Training sessions on the use of ultrasound machines were organized in collaboration with Obstetric / Gynecologists and Sonographers/Medical imaging officers from referral hospitals and continue face-to-face support to the midwives to improve their skills at health center. Providing Ultrasound services at the Health Center is an innovative approach in Rwanda. As such, and as expected, some teething problems have been reported. These include failure to collect timely and accurate information on the ultrasound service to the pregnant women. This, in turn, has led to incomplete and/or delayed information on the ultrasound services. The key reason for this is that the routine health information system does not collect specific information on ultrasound services. It is in this context that Enabel, through Barame project, designed, produced and provided a user-friendly digital tool for Health Centre practitioners to collect, analyze, report and visualize data generated during the ultrasound scanning, through dashboard. Indeed, reliable data of the pregnant women is highly needed and can be remotely monitored for evidence-based decision making. Furthermore, this new strategy itself should be evaluated to identify the usefulness, and potential weaknesses and challenges that will require improvement before scaling up to more districts and health centers. Health care providers from Karongi and Rusizi District Health Centers, ahve already been trained on the digital tool. Such training sessions will be provided to all Health Centers in all districts of intervention after having provided them with ultrasound machines, thus equipping them with knowledge on the use of this new technology. In total, 131 ultrasound machines are planned to be provided to 131 Health Centers from seven districts of Barame intervention. The same Health Centers will be provided with tablets to use the ultrasound reporting tool.
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Rwanda: Poultry Africa 2022, a value chain knowledge sharing trade fair
Alexandre KAYITARE | 11/10/2022
Kigali from 4th to 6th October 2022, more than 100 poultry value chain entrepreneurs (Farmers) have been facilitated to attending the poultry Africa event 2022, and had the chance to interact with more than 120 exhibiting companies from over than 20 countries to share and learn new technologies, best practices and knowledge transfer in regard to the application of modern technologies to increase profitability in the poultry value chain. Poultry Africa is the unique B2B international trade show that brings the full supply chain, from Feed to Food, of the poultry industries in Sub-Saharan Africa. It connects professional exhibitors of the international poultry industry with the fast-growing communities of poultry and poultry feed producers across the continent. With over 120 exhibiting companies from more than 20 countries, the third edition of Poultry Africa was the biggest so far. This international trade fair, included am enriched leadership conference covering several sectors within the poultry production chain, addressing topics like biosecurity in modern poultry farming, water management, food security, while the subject of animal health got extra attention. The event is truly a Sub-Saharan platform, with visitors from Rwanda, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia but also South-Africa, Sudan, etc. This year, the show welcomed almost 2,000 visitors, decision-makers, and buyers. This trade Fair organized by VIV worldwide and its industry partners presented an extremely inspiring line-up of conferences next to the trade exhibition. Since its first edition in 2017, the Leadership Conference is an important source of knowledge for the whole region. Topics such as feed costs reduction, farm management & bio-security, insects for feed, data for (egg) production optimization, and the African market outlook will get extra attention. PRISM Enabel as the major contributor in the Rwandan poultry value chain development, collaborated with the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI) and the Rwandan Poultry Industry Association (RPIA), has facilitated the participation of more than 100 Rwandan poultry value chain entrepreneurs (farmers) in the poultry Africa event 2022, Third Edition in Kigali. PRISM Enabel project works with the Smallholders farmers (SHF), to build their technical capacity in livestock, with the aim for shifting traditional - practices to improved husbandry for market-oriented farming to increase profitability of farmers who are involved in the poultry value chain in Rwanda.
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Rwanda: National Agroforestry Research Conference - Trees on Farms for Landscape Restoration, Biodiversity and Livelihoods
Denise NSANGA | 04/10/2022
Kigali, 4th October 2022 - The Ministry of Environment in collaboration with Enabel and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) conducted the National Agroforestry Research Conference themed “Trees on farms - a sustainable solution for landscape restoration, biodiversity and livelihoods”. The conference brought together research and academic institutions and different stakeholders supporting Rwanda's landscapes production capacity restoration and climate change mitigation through agroforestry. Various exchanges in this one-day conference covered several themes regarding the ecosystem services of agroforestry systems; biomass and energy supply potential in agroforestry systems; the socio-economic of agroforestry adoption; and agroforestry system monitoring tools and approaches.For a concrete and sustainable Impact of agroforestry to the National ecosystem, various studies are being conducted by academic and research institutions including the University of Rwanda, the university of Gent, KU Leuven and the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) under DeSIRA program (Development Smart Innovations through Research in Agriculture and food security) funded by the European Union. According to Mrs Gatesi Juliene, a researcher from the University of Rwanda, Landscape restoration primarily depend on trees, which harmoniously improve livelihood and biodiversity. “Ground Data have shown that where trees have been planted, the greenness has attracted the whole ecosystem including insects and birds and the soil became more fertile.” DeSIRA program, the 5-year agroforestry research project (2020-2024), is being jointly implemented by Enabel and IUCN. It aims at effectively understanding and demonstrating the ecological, social and economic pathways to, and resultant benefits from the scale up of agroforestry-based restoration and sustainable biomass use, particularly focusing on the Rwandan Eastern province - which presents relatively higher opportunities of agroforestry landscapes restoration with approximately 500,000 ha1, and the peri-urban City of Kigali -with an estimated area of approximately 40,000 ha for horticultural value chains development opportunities.
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Rwanda: Where ICT links Public Finance Management
Denise NSANGA | 30/09/2022
Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS) contributes to Rwanda’s financial accountability and efficient service delivery. These ICT solutions compulsorily link key areas of Rwanda’s public finance to help the country go paperless with efficient use of public resources and value for money. The current Public Finance Management Strategic Plan (PFM SSP; 2018-2024) is one of the sixteen sector strategies that implement Rwanda’s National Strategy for Transformation (NST1-2017-2024), and It is cross-cutting and a key enabler to Rwanda’s development aspirations. The Government of Rwanda has been successful in mobilizing and efficiently managing its public resources, while strengthening its PFM systems. Since 2019, Belgium partnered with the Government of Rwanda to boost Rwanda’s socio-economic transformation through effective and accountable PFM. The Enabel’s PFM intervention is being implemented by the Rwandan Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) and the Office of Auditor General of State Finances (OAG). Through the PFM Basket Fund, Enabel PFM intervention focuses on three specific results: (1) expand the coverage and functionalities of the Integrated Financial Management and Information System (IFMIS) and other PFM ICT systems; (2) Increase compliance with PFM systems and international accounting and auditing standards and (3) Strengthen PFM systems supporting subnational investments and services. In collaboration with the Government of Rwanda, Enabel supported the PFM digital reforms–from design, development, and roll-out to full integration with other PFM ICT systems. Today, IFMIS covered all domestic revenues and public expenditures to all 39 Rwandan Embassies and High Commissions, all 443 development projects, 216 Ministries and Government agencies, 41 Judicial entities, City of Kigali and all 30 district administrations, all 416 sectors, all 30 district hospitals and 13 referrals, all 560 health centers and 4,873 public schools. The IFMIS was interlinked with other PFM ICT systems and has significantly contributed to the improvement of financial accountability, financial inclusion, paperwork reduction and efficient service delivery which positively impacted all PFM sector beneficiaries, and most importantly provided regular and emergency services while complying with physical distancing during COVID-19 lockdowns. The IFMIS has automated the financial reporting for all public institutions, where preparation of financial statements is done through a single click moving from the old practice where reports were retrieved, signed, and sent to the Accountant General’s office for consolidation using excel spreadsheets. By interlinking IFMIS with e-Tax system and banking system, a taxpayer is currently able to make his/her own tax declaration and payment through mobile or bank instantly therefore reducing taxpayer compliance costs and increase domestic revenue collection. The integration of IFMIS with e-procurement, has significantly contributed to the cost-efficient procurement processes, transparency in public procurement as well as the reduction of corruption in public procurement in Rwanda. The e-procurement system is currently being used by 16,151 users. The digitalization of the national treasury and integration of IFMIS with Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPS) has also reduced the time taken to prepare and pay government employees from 15days to a time less than 3 days. The integration of IFMIS with School Data Management System (SDMS) and the Bank of Kigali Urubuto Software has made easier the tuition fees payment for all parents with BK account and helped the Government of Rwanda in monitoring of school dropout and improving the management of school feeding and capitation grant program at national level which led to the achievements of some NST 1 outcomes in education sector. With the integration of IFMIS, e-tax and e-banking, most of national and decentralized services related to family; identification; immigration & emigration; land service; car & motor services and health services are all being accessed and paid via Irembo service platform any time hence improving financial inclusion in Rwanda.In nutshell, Enabel’s PFM Intervention played a critical role in supporting the Government of Rwanda to ensure timely financial reporting for all public institutions, achieve the cash-less payments policy objective in all central and some local government entities, and improve service delivery.
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Towards increased productivity and efficiency: Access to higher quality information for policy making in Rwanda’s Health sector
Denise NSANGA | 30/08/2022
On 29 August 2022, Barame Intervention had a full-day review on Action Researches protocol, their progress implementation and way forward towards bringing changes to maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent sexual and reproductive health in the seven supported districts. Barame intervention focuses on three main results: (1) Improvement initiatives for integrated quality MNCH&FP/ASRH services from community up to Hospital level are conducted for all; (2) A comprehensive life cycle SRH model focusing on sexual and gender-based violence, teenage pregnancies and drug & substance abuse is implemented and (3) The self-reliance (knowledge, attitudes, and practices) of the community with regards to their (sexual and reproductive) health through social, behavioural and community engagement efforts is enhanced. Among other action research projects, the intervention is working on: 1. Availability of functional medical equipment to improve quality of services: This project aims at assessing how vital medical equipment are contributing to new-born and maternal health lifesaving. The early findings show that some of non-functioning equipment could be repaired by the hospital biomedical engineer or simple spare part could be purchased from the hospital budget. Changes in management mindset for the proper use of the biomedical engineers of the hospital, equipment curative and preventive maintenance practice, the inclusion of these costs into their own budget is progressively taken into consideration by different hospital partners. 2. Improve youth friendly sexual and reproductive health services: This action research aims to increase the utilization of Adolescent Sexual Reproduction Health (ASRH) services by making the services available to youth, by reducing stigma through offering SRH services at the youth centers, where many leisure activities for youth take place; combined with a network of peer educators who live in the same community as the youth. Also, by making the youth centre functional. In total, the number of youths who sought ASRH services at the youth centre was five times as high, compared to the first semester of 2021. 3. Obstetric Ultrasound services for antenatal care to increase the coverage of the first antenatal care visit and to detect early pregnancy risk or anomalies. The WHO (2016) recommends one ultrasound scan before 24 weeks of gestation to amongst others, estimate gestational age (GA) to reduce, for instance, inappropriate induction of labour, improve detection of foetal anomalies and multiple pregnancies, and improve a woman’s pregnancy experience on which the Ministry of Health is aligned, Barame supplied obstetrical ultrasound machines to Health centres and trained health providers for piloting that strategy. Being a very expensive equipment going at large scale need evidence-based data to prove its impact on maternal health. More findings on quality of training and mentorship, Health providers on the interpretation of diagnosis need to be well analysed before the scaling up of the strategy. The action researches are being conducted in partnership with the Rwanda Biomedical Centre.
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Rwanda: Field visit to assess the contribution of Public Finance Management on Service Delivery
Denise NSANGA | 30/08/2022
The field visit of Public Finance Management (PFM) Technical Working Group Members took place on 18-19 November 2021 in Musanze District, Northern province and targeted the district hospital; one sector administration; one health center and one public secondary school. The purpose of this PFM field visit was to ascertain how the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and other PFM ICT related systems such as E-procurement and School Data Management System (SDMS) are supporting local government and other service delivery units in achieving: (1) value for money in their procurement processes; (2) timely financial reporting; (2) effective controls; (3) efficient decision-making and the impacts created to the beneficiaries. As co-chair of the PFM Sector, Enabel’s PFM team played a very important role in the organization of this 2-day field visit which brought together Enabel, World Bank; KfW; FCDO; UNDP and partner’s staff from Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) and Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA). During this field visit, it has been confirmed that in addition to the Rwandan Government’s efforts, three major interventions namely the PFM Reforms Basket Fund where contributing development partners are KfW and Enabel; the PFM Reforms Project funded by the World Bank and the local government PFM capacity building programme financed by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) have strongly supported the implementation of Public Financial Management Sector Strategic Plan (PFM SSP 2018-2024). It has been found that the IFMIS was being used by the district and its subsidiary entities while the e-procurement was used by district offices and district hospital only. Additionally, the School Data Management System academic module which is managing academic affairs was fully operational in all public and private secondary schools while its finance module which is managing revenues and expenditures has been rolled out in the public secondary school only. The field visit helped the team to better understand the impact of the support provided to the Government of Rwanda during the implementation of the PFM Sector Strategic Plan especially in relation to the enhancement of IFMIS functionalities and its integration with other PFM ICT systems. As of impact, (1) the paperless workflows enhanced the work efficiency for all users of IFMIS; e-procurement and SDMS; (2) the budget to be spent for purchasing papers and cartridges for printing monthly and quarterly financial reports is no longer included in the annual work plan; (3) all local government officials are being paid their monthly salaries on time due to the integration of IFMIS with e-Tax, Smart HR, and Internet Banking as well as digitalization of the national treasury; (4) E-procurement reduced possibilities of corruption in the public procurement processes and (5) SDMS improved the management of capitation grants to public schools and reduced monitoring of school dropout among students.
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Expo 2022: Enabel supported companies in Rwanda explain exhibition outcomes
Denise NSANGA | 18/08/2022
Currently, Rwanda is at a trade deficit with imports from construction materials being ten times higher than exports. This affects the economy of the country in terms of inflation and local employment. Enabel, through its project “Urban Economic Development initiative” (UEDi), intends to boost Made in Rwanda production (MiR) to meet national demand and sustain the rate of urbanization in Rwanda and in the long term to be competitive on regional and international market by supporting key companies in the stone and clay value chains. With the 25th Rwanda International Trade Fair organized by the Private Sector Federation (FSF) that took place from July 26th up to 16th August 2022, Enabel and its stakeholders supported eight companies in Clay and Stone value chains to exhibit their products at the fair, namely Stonecraft, EAGI, CAMOSAG Ltd, RCGF Rwanda, Multiple choice general supplies and services, OPTIMA, Jacques Mutokambali Ltd and AXWA. The initiative aimed at allowing the local companies in the clay and stone value chains to exhibit and promote their products, facilitate their networking opportunities including connection with potential buyers. The support included the provision of stands and promotional materials. “We have sold and received many orders” – Exhibitors As a result of participating in the exhibition, companies promoted their businesses, sold products, received orders and connected with other entrepreneurs. Mr Byazaire Kitoko showcased tiles and paving stones made by CAMOSAG Ltd. He testified that his company benefited a lot from the exhibition: “Visitors got to know our products - they thought they were very expensive and made from abroad- they appreciated the technology they are made with and took our contacts. In addition, four visitors made orders, two visited our showroom which is in Kigali, Kicukiro district. More importantly, we are going to review, improve our production technology so as to make products more competitive with a lower price”. Wmebesa Kenneth who represented AXWA Ltd said: “We have sold 10,000 bricks equal to two million Rwandan francs to clients obtained in the exhibition and we received many orders. In addition, we learned from others how we can improve our production process for better quality and less cost products.” Stone Craft Ltd declared having sold their products to five clients and received orders. “Many people liked our stone products, they learnt where our factory and showroom are located, and promised to buy in the future.” Stressed Flavie Umurenzi. Rwanda International Trade Fair is organised every year and attracts around 400 local, regional and international companies to exhibit their products. People between eight thousand and fifteen thousand visit the 3-week long exhibition every day.
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Rwanda: Aiming at creating a decent work force
Alexandre KAYITARE | 16/08/2022
Since March 2021, Enabel in Rwanda in partnership with Rwanda TVET Board (RTB) through the Urbanization program (UEDi) is implementing a 6-month short dual learning program. The program supports skills development and aims at creating a well skilled workforce in construction sector with more focus on the production and use of Made in Rwanda (MiR) construction materials. On 12th August 2022, 580 young men and women who pursued the Dual training officially graduated from their respective areas of training. The graduation ceremony was held in IPRC Kigali, and was officiated by various officials from the Ministry of labor, Ministry of Education, and more specifically was attended by the Ambassador of Belgium in Rwanda HE Bert Versmessen. The training is offered in five trades namely Building construction, Carpentry, Domestic electricty, Welding and Plumbing and it is delivered through the partnership between TVET schools and construction companies & craftsmen. Trainees spend three months at school and the other three months in the workplace. Both school trainers and In company Instructors (ICIs) collaborate to facilitate trainees in acquiring a series of theoretical and practical hands-on skills relevant for the labor market. Three selected TVET schools that deliver the programs are Ecole des Sciences et Technique – EST Busogo, Ecole Technique Saint Kizito Musha and Saint Martin Gisenyi. The program targets the most vulnerable youth according to the national livelihood classification {Ubudehe}, category 1 and 2 and ensures that candidates are given a chance to learn skills that would improve their livelihood. “Right after I finished my program, I earned a decent job that pays me a significant salary.” Says Cyurinyana Henriette a young girl from Gicumbi District. She added that she saves the earned money in Small livestock which has been her young age dream. In addition to the skills development of young graduates through dual training in construction sector, the program reinforces the institutional capacity of RTB by supporting the development or review of curricula and other instructional materials and by contributing to the development of strategic documents. So far, four construction curricula were supported with the integration of the Made in Rwanda and quality standards (Building construction, Land surveying, Plumbing and Public works) and dual training programs were developed for the five supported trades. At organizational level, partners including associations, partner schools and companies are supported in the design, implementation and monitoring of participatory dual training. Technical and pedagogical trainings are organized for administrative and technical staff involved in the implementation of dual training. A recent investigation shows that 82% of reached graduates, i.e. 195 of 237 trainees reached on phone out of 358 trainees who completed the training program in the 1st two batches have been (self-) employed, and some of them have been hired by companies that have hosted them during the in-company training.
