A review mission recommends the Decentralization and Environmental Management Project
The Decentralization and Environmental Management Project (DEMPS) focuses on the Lake Kivu area in the Western Province and supports national and local environmental entities for capacity development of smooth decentralization on environmental management. The project also supports sustainable livelihood initiatives on the ground. The DEMP Phase I was a three-year project which was formulated in 2004.
During Phase I, many achievements were done such as attempting to integrate environmental concerns to the District Development Plans of all districts of Western Province and introducing innovative techniques which are environmentally friendly (e.g. energy saving stoves and rain water harvesting tanks). This phase was supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Royal Netherlands Embassy and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the achievements were quite positive. As such, the internal Mid-term Review Mission recommended that the project should be extended to another phase.
“Recently the project document for Phase II has been prepared and we would like to commence the next stage of DEMP as soon as we secure funds'', says Toshikazu Mito, UNDP Programme Officer in charge of the project . Phase II is a five-year project and will further enhance decentralization and capacity of environment management by national/local institutes and local people. The ultimate aim of the project is to contribute to poverty reduction and economic development through sustainable use and management of natural resources. Districts through the proposed initiatives would be able to have the capacity to plan, manage and ultimately benefit from environmentally sound development activities.
The project is one of the many initiatives by the Rwandan Government and development partners to promote environment sustainability and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). UNDP supports the Government in various programmes related to environment protection by addressing issues of poverty by improving environmental management.
Rwanda
