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How UK Development Co-operation works in Rwanda

DFID is working with the Government of Rwanda to support the country’s fight against poverty through good governance, a pro-poor economic environment, and respect for human rights.

The UK is Rwanda’s single largest partner, providing high levels of predictable support to Rwanda’s growth and poverty reduction strategies over the last ten years. Since the genocide in 1994, we have invested around £380 million to help rebuild Rwanda and change the lives of its citizens.

Our development partnership in Rwanda is framed by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) first signed in 1999 and updated in 2006. In it Rwanda pledges to improve on three key policy areas:

Public Financial Management,

Human Rights and International Obligations, and

Poverty Reduction

And the UK pledges to provide at least £460 million in development aid over the next ten years, two thirds - some £33 million each year - will be delivered as general budget support.

We try hard to align our programme with the Government’s plans and to help it improve its management of public finance and other basic services in education and health.

Areas and Policies

Reducing poverty

We channel two thirds of our funds through Poverty Reduction Budget Support (PRBS) because we believe PRBS can be extremely effective in rebuilding state systems after a conflict where a country’s government has developed practical plans to reduce poverty and achieve the MDGs. In Rwanda’s case these two criteria are reinforced by the country’s continuously improving management of public finances.

Supporting education

We are the lead donor in the education sector and, we are also responsible for taking forward policy dialogue and managing funds on behalf of Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium and Canada.

We were among the first donors to embark on a new and innovative financing and management framework for education, known as the Joint Education Sector Support (JESS). It is designed to channel in a well-coordinated and harmonized way, financial and technical assistance from a range of donors to the Government’s Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP). Between 2006 -2010 we will have spent £13m as Joint Education Sector Support, of which £3 million will be given to a pooled fund for technical assistance for capacity building.

We have taken a lead in attracting extra funding for education from other development partners and have helped the Government to access $70 million from the Education for All – Fast Track Initiative (EFA - FTI) and €30 million to support the Education Sector Strategic Plan.

Achieving good governance

The UK’s international development White Paper launched in 2006, identified governance as a core focus for all our development partnerships. In Rwanda, we support a range of institutional strengthening and capacity-building programmes to key institutions like MINECOFIN where our contribution since 2005 has been £3.5million.

We’re also supporting a programme to strengthen the Ministry of Public Service, and ensure the Rwandan civil service is adequately staffed, equipped, trained and motivated to deliver government services. Since 2001 we have given £5.3 million to support these reforms.

We are helping the Government to lower its dependency on external aid through a more efficient and effective Revenue Authority. Since 1999, we have provided the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) around £22 million in financial and technical aid, which has been more than a sound investment as today RRA collects the same amount in taxes each month!

In 2007, working together with UNDP we launched a four-year £5 million programme of support to key organisations responsible for promoting state accountability and responsiveness. These are Parliament, Office of the Ombudsman, Human Rights Commission, National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, National Electoral Commission and the High Press Council. In addition, we are looking at mainstreaming gender into this programme through working with key organisations such as Ministry of Gender, Rwanda National Women’s Council, and UNIFEM.

Promoting growth

But none of this progress will be sustained without accelerated and maintained growth in Rwanda. The first ten years after the genocide saw Rwanda achieve the second highest growth rates in Africa averaging 10% to 2000, and 6% after that. This growth contributed significantly to the decrease in poverty that Rwanda has seen from 70% in 1994, to 57% in 2007.

But growth rates have slowed down, and there are still 5.3 million people living on less than 25 pence per day. On current trends, Rwanda will not meet the MDG target of halving the numbers in poverty by 2015, or its own target of reducing the numbers living in poverty to 41% of the population by 2012.

Growth that lifts people out of poverty can be achieved through a number of ways, for example through poor people feeling more secure about investing in new tools, crops or technologies to protect their land from soil erosion or climate change. That’s why we are supporting the government reform of the land ownership system to resolve disputes, encourage the best possible use of the nation’s land, and protect people’s rights of ownership, especially the vulnerable and historically marginalised.

Separately, the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), with support from DFID and other development partners, has produced an Agricultural Transformation strategic Plan to contribute to poverty reduction and Rwanda’s economic growth. Our contribution to its implementation will be £3 million.