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Rwanda sees '09 tea earnings up 29 pct to $54 mln

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 07:41:25 GMT

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Rwanda expects its 2009 earnings from tea to rise 29 percent to $54 million compared with the previous year, due to higher yields per hectare, branded packaging and new varieties, the central African country's industry regulator said on Friday.Rwanda earned $42 million from tea in 2008, compared with $34 million the previous year, despite poor weather conditions and the global economic downturn, Rwanda Tea Authority said.

Source: http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE50203720090103

Rwandan growth could reach 10%

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:50:53 GMT

Friday, November 21, 2008

Rwanda's booming manufacturing and farming sectors could push growth in the country to 10% this year, according to the Rwandan central bank governor.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7741254.stm

Regreening Rwanda’s thousand hills

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:52:30 GMT

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The balance of Rwanda’s wetlands is being restored, with a sub-regional and global impact

It is an uphill task, but in the highlands and the lowlands, Rwanda is slowly but surely restoring the slopes of its thousand hills. Many of them are green once more, but still in poor condition due to environmental degradation, mainly caused by human activity and the ravages of the war and genocide of 1994.

Determined to carve a brighter future and backed by strong political will, this country in Africa’s Great Lakes region has developed a strategy and launched a series of initiatives aimed at reducing poverty and protecting its natural heritage, with a target of 2020.

Major challenges facing the country include the extreme vulnerability of its fragile and unstable ecosystems, which are subject to exceptionally high demographic pressure – the country has an average population density of 580 inhabitants per square kilometer, compared with the African average of 33 per km². In an effort to secure a long term solution, the Rwandan government has launched the Integrated Management of Critical Ecosystems project, an initiative of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with the support of a number of international partners, including FAO.

"A primary goal is to reconcile the need for more intensified production in the livestock, crop and fisheries sectors with that of conserving the environment and the biodiversity of ecosystems and species," observed Stanislas Kamanzi, Rwanda’s Minister for Natural Resources.

FAO recognises that the vulnerability of these ecosystems, coupled with poor farming techniques, poses serious constraints to development.

"Agricultural production being the natural environment, with its components soil and water, it is crucial for all governments to introduce good practices and appropriate agricultural technologies as tools for intensifying farming, respecting the environment in its entirety," said Alexander Müller, FAO’s Assistant Director General for Natural Resources Management and Environment.

Protecting wetlands

Marshes, lakes, rivers and peatlands are all wetlands that need some or extensive protection. They constitute valuable reservoirs of water and biodiversity, as well as energy sources. Marshlands, in particular, account for six percent of the national territory in Rwanda, or 165 000 hectares (ha), of which more than 90 000 are cultivated with traditional methods and 5 000 using water management practices.

"Activities affecting ecosystems, beyond the national context, have sub-regional and global impacts, hence the need for solidarity and an international commitment to save the planet," declared the Director General of the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), Rose Mukankomeje.

Rose – as she is known in the Rwandan capital Kigali – makes a point of seeking direct contact with a wide variety of stakeholders in the public and private sectors, convinced of the need to examine and approve reports of environmental impact studies in every field of socio-economic activity. One of her key priorities is to work with FAO towards a framework law for better management of marshlands, a crucial type of wetland and recognised as such by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971).

"Marshland farming is widely practised; what is more, some marshes contain peat, so therefore not only play a more important hydrological role, but also hold significant energy potential," said Mrs Mukankomeje.

Marshes are used for growing food and horticultural crops like tomatoes and cabbage – mainly for household consumption – but also for cash crops such as tea and sugar cane, as well rice, some of which is kept for domestic use while the rest is sold.

"It is crucial to rationalise farming on marshland so as to allow the regeneration of soils and the water table, and at the same time to encourage terrace cultivation on the hill sides," said Elisabeth Balepa, FAO representative in Rwanda.

On sites declared to be ‘protected areas’, the marshlands have been restored and crop production has increased two or three-fold on the slopes of the hill sides, according to officials of the marshland and hill sides management committees. Water from the marshland is resurfacing after a dry period of more than three years. Papyrus has started growing there once more, while several rare species of waterfowl have reappeared.

"We should go even further and encourage local communities to take greater responsibility through individual or community payment for environmental service schemes that help protect the environment, "said John Latham, Director of the FAO-hosted Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS).

According to FAO, demand for environmental services supplied by the agricultural sector – especially climate change mitigation, improved watershed management and biodiversity conservation – will continue to increase. Given this trend, there is a real need to introduce more appropriate incentives to encourage producers to modify their farming practices, so that the agriculture sector can satisfy the demand.

International cooperation and partnerships

Recent joint activities between FAO and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in Rwanda are an example of the synergy and overall collaboration between the two intergovernmental institutions – a collaboration aimed at assisting countries in the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands while taking into account the interdependence of people with their environment.

Discussions among FAO and the Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands are currently being held in order to identify other joint actions in countries in Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Tunisia and Kenya.

“FAO’s cooperation with the Ramsar Convention aims also at reinforcing synergies among Biodiversity-related Conventions and other environmental agreements in order to avoid duplications of efforts and, with the support of the Italian government, to focus on coordinated actions and approaches,” says FAO expert Lucilla Spini.

"It is important that we harmonise all our activities across all sectors, so as to managing our natural capital sustainably, through partnerships and joint actions such as that between FAO and the Convention on Wetlands," concludes Anada Tiéga, Secretary-General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

(*)The Convention on Wetlands was adopted in Ramsar, Iran on 2 February 1971 and entered into force in 1975. The convention aims to oblige contractual parties to protect or manage their wetlands in such a way that they retain their essential ecological functions. The Rugezi-Burera-Ruhondo marshland has been designated by the Rwandan Government as the first Ramsar site in Rwanda.

FAO

Rwanda: First training course for military legal advisers in international humanitarian law

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:21:08 GMT

Thursday, July 10, 2008

From 7 to 11 July 2008, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Rwandan Defence Forces (RDF) are running a training course in Kigali for legal advisers in international humanitarian law within the RDF and other State structures involved in the national application or implementation of humanitarian law.

The main bodies concerned are the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and the national police force.

The aim of the course, which is the first of its kind to be organized by the ICRC in Rwanda, is to strengthen the capacities of the authorities and the RDF and to establish within them a permanent body of people who are qualified and able to assume the role of legal adviser in humanitarian law. The ceremony was hosted jointly by the military chief of staff and the head of the ICRC delegation in Rwanda, Tobias Epprecht.

In his inaugural speech, Tobias Epprecht said, “I hope that this training course will help to make the principles of humanitarian law an integral part of all aspects of military operations, and particularly of training and support measures for officers involved in planning and conducting actual operations.”

Pursuant to Article 82 of Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, legal advisers in humanitarian law have two main tasks – to advise military commanders on the correct application of humanitarian law and to give them guidance on teaching the rules set forth in those legal instruments to the armed forces under their command.

The training course is being taught by ICRC and RDF experts and is part of a long-term ICRC commitment to provide support for the Rwandan authorities in the process of adhering to the treaties of international humanitarian law. It is intended to strengthen their capacities to implement those instruments.

International Committee of the Red Cross

RWANDA: Military to lead the way in male circumcision

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:35:22 GMT

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Monday, July 07, 2008

The soldiers in the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) will be the first men to benefit from a government policy to use male circumcision as a tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS, according to senior health officials.

Early in 2008, the Rwandan Ministry of Health declared its intention to include circumcision – scientifically proven to reduce a man's risk of contracting the virus from an infected sexual partner by as much as 60 percent – in its HIV prevention programmes. The voluntary circumcision programme is expected to start in August.

"We will use the military as role models for the rest of the population – they are adult enough to give consent, and if young men see that soldiers are willing to suffer the pain of circumcision, they will also get the courage to do it," said Dr Agnes Binagwaho, executive secretary of Rwanda's national AIDS commission (CNLS).

"After the military we will concentrate on students and, finally, on the general population; eventually we hope to move on to circumcising new-born babies, as long as research proves that it is advantageous and cost-effective to do so."

Unlike many other cultures in the region, Rwandan men and boys are not circumcised as a rite of passage, so it is unclear exactly how many men are circumcised but the number is presumed to be low. Research is underway to determine the percentage of men eligible for circumcision.

Rwanda's Centre for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, known as TRAC PLUS, is to conduct a 'knowledge, attitude and practice' survey in the army to determine the level of awareness-raising needed, followed by a similar survey among the general population ahead of national rollout of the programme in 2009.

"The survey will ask questions like whether or not they know what circumcision is, whether they can name its advantages or disadvantages, whether they will continue to use condoms following circumcision, and so on. After that, CNLS will be responsible for information, education and communicating the message of circumcision to the public," said Elévanie Nyankesha, HIV prevention coordinator of TRAC PLUS.

"Our national public awareness campaign is due to start in July [2008] and will make it clear that circumcision cannot replace any of our existing prevention strategies – education, abstinence, faithfulness to a single sexual partner and correct and consistent use of condoms," Binagwaho told IRIN/PlusNews.

"People must be made aware that although circumcision is beneficial, there is still a 40 percent risk of HIV transmission, so they must know that it must be used in conjunction with another HIV prevention method, such as condom use," she said.
HIV prevalence in the RDF is estimated at between two and three percent - slightly lower than the national average of three percent. Intense prevention activities have been carried out since the mid-1990s, and barracks and military hospitals are plastered with billboards and posters urging soldiers to use condoms and be tested for HIV.

"We recently interviewed 70 men at one of the army's VCT [voluntary counselling and testing] centres and, surprisingly, it turned out that 55 of them had already been circumcised either for hygiene reasons, to prevent other diseases or because they believed it would improve their sexual performance," said Dr Charles Murego, director of medical services in the Ministry of Defence.

The circumcision campaign is to be rolled out gradually over a long period, because the 35,000-strong RDF could not afford to have hundreds of men incapacitated at the same time: "We will circumcise, say, 50 soldiers per week – it would be too dangerous to carry out mass circumcision in the army."

The RDF will also encourage former rebels undergoing disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration to undergo circumcision as they prepare to re-enter civilian society.

"We need to train medical staff – doctors, nurses and clinical officers – at our military hospitals, get the necessary equipment and then start the procedures," Murego told IRIN/PlusNews. The RDF has three military hospitals around the country.

Rwanda has more than nine million people, but only one doctor for every 50,000 people and one nurse for every 3,900 people, so increasing the number of medical staff able to perform the procedure is vital to the success of the programme. Nyankesha said doctors who had recently received training in Zambia would start training local practitioners at district level.

The circumcision programme will be funded by, among others, WHO and the UN Children's Fund, and carried out according to United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.

PlusNews http://www.plusnews.org

RWANDA: Reconciliation still a major challenge

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:40:07 GMT

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Brigitte Mukandoli was a schoolgirl when a group of militias manning a roadblock near her village of Bishenyi, close to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, seized her.

She was taken to a nearby village and raped by 10 men. One of the militia leaders asked her to make a choice: become a wife or be killed.

She became a wife. Later, she learnt that her family had all been killed. That was in 1994.

Now 32, Mukandoli is struggling to accept that it is possible to forgive her tormentors.

"There is no reconciliation before pardon," she told IRIN. "If security for genocide survivors can be provided - and it is a big if - then we can hope for possible reconciliation with the killers."

Mukandoli is just one of the thousands of Rwandan women who suffered abuse during the 100 days of genocide when Hutu militias turned their guns and machetes on Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Rwandan scholars say more than one million people were killed between April and July 1994. Hundreds of thousands of women and girls suffered various forms of sexual violence.

According to AVEGA-AGAHOZO, an NGO for genocide widows, 80 percent of its 25,000 members suffered sexual abuse during the genocide.

Traditional courts

Rwandan officials, pushing for a long-term solution, initiated traditional “gacaca” courts to try some of those responsible for crimes committed during the genocide, and to decongest the prison system.

"Reconciliatory justice is an important stage in the eradication of the culture of impunity [and] in the process of reconciliation," Domitille Mukantaganzwa, executive secretary of the national authority in charge of gacaca courts, said.

According to the authority, the courts were set up because “classic justice didn’t meet expectations” - after five years, only 6,000 out of 12,000 suspects had been tried.

The 12,103 gacaca courts, manned by about 250,000 “judges”, elected by the local population, were therefore a strategy to expedite justice.

Mukandoli and other survivors are sceptical, however, arguing that the process does not offer adequate protection. Théodore Simburudali, head of the umbrella organisation for genocide survivors, known by its local name Ibuka, which means "remember" in Kinyarwanda, concurs.

The authorities, he said, were reluctant to arrest and prosecute all those charged with killing genocide survivors. Even those charged are released for flimsy reasons, he added.

"It is unbelievable to talk about reconciliation when the criminals are freed for the simple reason of having repented their crime publicly," he said.

However, Samson Gwakwavu, a 40-year-old perpetrator, who was freed by a gacaca court, insisted that the system offers true reconciliatory justice.

"It was difficult to believe that there could be a presidential pardon for such acts," he said while doing community service for agreeing to testify before a gacaca court.

Mixed views

Some analysts argue that despite the trials, genuine reconciliation has yet to be achieved. According to Anne N Kubai, a Swedish-based researcher, some Rwandans see the gacaca process as “victors’ justice”, which has not yet addressed the root causes of the conflict.

"As many Rwandans say, forgiving is an effort that one makes in order to make life liveable, especially since victims and the ex-prisoners have to live together as neighbours again," she noted in a May 2007 paper.

"Describing the experiences of living in the same communities, some survivors said that despite having forgiven and reconciled, they found it hard to look each other in the eye."

This assessment is echoed by Mukandoli: "The existence of survivors is still as a danger to the killers," she told IRIN.

Rwandan authorities, however, argue that the gacaca courts have worked well. According to the national authority in charge of gacaca courts, the process has involved 85 percent of the population, and helped alleviate suspicion.

By December, up to 761,446 people will have been brought before these courts - a much faster way of handling the backlog of cases in a manner that enables people to live again in peace and harmony.

"We believe that punishing perpetrators, honouring victims and rehabilitating survivors are the pillars of post-genocide reconstruction and the basis for preventing new genocide," Kamali Karegesa, Rwanda's envoy to Uganda, noted during the official mourning week that ended on 14 April.

Source: IRIN http://www.irinnews.org

Remember Rwanda by Defending Darfur

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:32:35 GMT

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

‘War on Terror’ Ties with Sudan No Excuse for U.S. Inaction on Genocide, Says Africa Action

Yesterday the world recognized the 14th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. To honor the memory of the 800,000 people who lost their lives in this tragedy, Africa Action today called for new U.S. leadership to end the first genocide of the 21st century in Darfur, Sudan. Africa Action released several new policy resources on Darfur today, including "The Ties that Bind Bush and Bashir," a report exposing the 'war on terror' intelligence collaboration between the governments of the U.S. and Sudan.

"Despite a lot of high-minded rhetoric, the Bush administration has yet to make a meaningful impact on the lives of vulnerable Darfuris," said Gerald LeMelle, Africa Action's Executive Director. "More than one quarter of the way into 2008, the violence in Darfur looks just like that of 2003, and 80,000 people have been displaced this year already. Yet since the same men in the Sudanese government orchestrating deliberate attacks on civilians provide the U.S. with intelligence for the so-called 'war on terror,' President Bush refuses to make peace and protection for the people of Sudan a foreign policy priority. By speaking out on Darfur but refusing to act, he remains as complicit to genocide as President Clinton was in 1994."

This January, the U.S. introduced a new Special Envoy for Sudan, veteran diplomat Richard Williamson. Although this appointment brought much official fanfare, so far, Special Envoy Williamson’s energy has been concentrated in the wrong direction.

"Rich Williamson is trying to scapegoat the United Nations (UN) for the current catastrophe," said Michael Swigert, Africa Action's Program Associate for Policy Analysis and Communications. "This is pure hypocrisy on the part of the U.S. government. The UN depends on the will of member states. Lack of U.S. diplomatic and financial support is a prime reason the 26,000-person UN-African Union hybrid peacekeeping operation (UNAMID) is so far behind schedule. Rather than blaming the UN as an institution, the Bush administration should take advantage of the public spotlight activists have placed on China in the build up to the 2008 Summer Olympics. The U.S. must put strong diplomatic pressure on Beijing to stop supporting the genocidal regime in Khartoum."

To raise awareness and mobilize public pressure on the U.S. to exert leadership, Africa Action will hold Witnessing Genocide: A Forum for Reflection and Action, this Friday April 11, from 7:00 – 9:00 PM at Howard University’s Blackburn Center in Washington, DC. The event will celebrate the diversity of the culture and history of Darfur and Sudan as a whole and promote a comprehensive perspective that views the crisis in Darfur in a national and regional context.

For more information on this upcoming forum and the latest Africa Action resources on the crisis in Darfur, including "The Ties that Bind Bush and Bashir," please visit www.africaaction.org.

Africa Action

RWANDA: Protect genocide survivors, authorities urged

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 02:33:36 GMT

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

As Rwanda marks the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide on 8 April, the authorities are being called upon to provide better protection for genocide survivors who receive death threats.

"The Rwandan authorities should put in place stringent measures to stop acts of atrocity against genocide survivors," said Théodore Simburudali, the head of the umbrella organisation for genocide survivors known by its local name Ibuka, which means “remember” in Kinyarwanda.

The authorities, Simburudali added, lacked rigour in arresting and prosecuting those charged with killing genocide survivors. He cited the killings of a number of witnesses and judges involved in the "gacaca" courts in different parts of the country by unidentified people.

The gacaca is a traditional court system established to prosecute suspects accused of minor roles in the 1994 genocide in an effort to reduce the backlog of cases in formal courts.

"The authorities sometimes argue that the cause of the killings is related to [other reasons], but this is looking for a scapegoat," he told IRIN.

At least eight genocide survivors have been killed in the last two weeks in different parts of the country, he added, but only one arrest has been made. The latest incident was the killing of a genocide survivor who was a student at Rubengera Secondary School, in the west of the country.

According to aid agency estimates, at least 800,000 people, most of them ethnic Tutsis, were killed in 1994.

A number of events have been planned countrywide as part of a seven-day commemoration between 7 and 13 April under the theme: "Let us commemorate genocide while fighting against genocide ideology and render assistance to survivors while working for development."

Source: IRIN http://www.irinnews.org

Rwanda: ICRC supplies drinking water to 22,000 people

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:46:40 GMT

Monday, March 31, 2008

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has completed its water-supply project in Cyuga-Gihogwe, a rural neighbourhood on the outskirts of the town of Kigali. Around 22,000 people are now enjoying better access to vital drinking water.

“Thanks to this project, rural people now have access to water of an adequate quality and quantity. They no longer need to make long journeys every day to fetch it,” explains Tobias Epprecht, head of the ICRC delegation in Kigali.

The project was inaugurated today, at an official ceremony attended by Rwanda’s minister for the environment, water and mines, the head of the ICRC delegation, the managing director of Electrogaz (the national water board) and the district mayors, in addition to other local authorities and people from the neighbourhood in question.

Launched by the ICRC in April 2006 in conjunction with Electrogaz, this project has demanded an investment of over US$ 200,000. By providing a better supply of drinking water, it will improve the living conditions of people in the area.

The ICRC has worked with local authorities to set up water management committees in the neighbourhoods benefiting from this project, to ensure that the systems last. It has also funded training sessions and provided accounting equipment to help inhabitants run three rural water sources.

The ICRC is planning to complete three other water-supply projects in the east and south of the country this year. The total number of beneficiaries of these projects is estimated to be over 49,000 people.

Source: The International Committee of the Red Cross

After the handover of last project, MSF leaves Rwanda

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:07:04 GMT

Friday, December 14, 2007

In addition to bringing medical assistance, MSF has also been a witness of Rwanda's difficult recent history. The duty to speak out is a pillar of MSF's identity and became fundamental in the light of the 1994 events.

The international humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is closing down its activities in Rwanda after 16 years of presence. Its last remaining programme, providing medical care for people with HIV/AIDS in Kigali, has now been officially handed over to the health authorities, after a gradual transition of the activities for over more than a year.

MSF started working in Rwanda in 1991. Its teams initially provided an emergency medical response to populations suffering from the hardships of war, and in recent years re-focused their activities on vulnerable groups during the reconstruction period.

The diverse response of MSF has included assistance to displaced persons; war surgery; programmes for unaccompanied children and street children; support to victims traumatised by the conflict; programmes for improving access to health care; responding to epidemics such as malaria, cholera, tuberculosis, Aids and projects linked to maternal and reproductive health.

MSF's HIV/AIDS programme in Kinyinya and Kimironko health centres in Kigali was set up at a time when the country's resources were running short and the provision of therapy for people living with HIV/AIDS was virtually non-existent. MSF contributed to defining a response to the epidemic in this type of poor resources setting. More than 6,200 patients now receive medical care in the two health centres, and 2,700 of them benefit from anti-retroviral treatment (ARV). Among the people on ARV's, 10 percent are children, and MSF has developed an adapted approach for support and treatment for this group.

"As a direct witness of the violence, MSF swiftly and forcefully denounced the tragedy unfolding in front of its eyes, qualifying the crimes as genocide, and denouncing the political inaction, particularly with what became a rallying wake-up call, 'You can't stop genocide with doctors!'", explains Sébastien Roy, MSF spokesperson and former Head of Mission in Rwanda.

"Our volunteers also looked on, powerless, at the assassination of hundreds of their patients and medical colleagues. These events have scarred MSF deeply. But over and above the denunciation and memories, it was essential to continue relieving the suffering of the populations, and remain at their side."

There are still needs in the country, particularly in terms of access to health care (since 2006, the health system has been based on a compulsory insurance which raises issues in regards to the population’s economic situation).

But the country's general and health care capacities have been strengthened and Rwanda has moved into a development phase, receiving help from numerous organisations and donors who provide technical and financial support.

As a humanitarian organisation, MSF's departure from Rwanda is therefore logical, and allows it to re-focus its activities to situations of crisis and lack of medical assistance elsewhere.

MSF remains ready to come back to Rwanda should a new emergency require it.

Source: Médecins Sans Frontières