Rwanda

Rwanda and NEPAD

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), originated as a result of a merger between initiatives to address the development malaise in Africa. These were the Millennium Partnerships for African Recovery Programme (MAP), which was the response to a call by African leaders during the G8 Summit that was held in the year 2000 in Okinawa, Japan, for a concerted international development effort towards African renaissance. Another initiative was the Omega plan, a catching up theory of bridging the Africa-developed countries divide. NEPAD was adopted as a descriptive working title for the New African Initiative (NAI) that resulted as a merger between MAP and Omega Plan in July 2001.
Rwanda is a committed member of the New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD) and is one of the original 15 countries on the continent that are on the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC). Rwanda fully embraces the idea of African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and believes in the entire principle of good governance on the continent. It has also already accepted and endorsed the APRM principles by signing the memorandum of understanding on 9th March 2003.

Rwanda considers that, historically, NEPAD was born at the Heads of State and Government level and some effort is still required to popularise its agenda at the national and lower structures (grassroots). In August 2003 a NEPAD national secretariat was established in the office of the President to facilitate, expedite, coordinate and energise implementation of NEPAD programmes in the country. Rwanda NEPAD National Secretariat serves as a facilitator of NEPAD in the country.

The following are some of the specific targeted project achievements after each year:
Year one (2005)
The NEPAD Secretariat strengthened institutionally and its staff empowered with skills including communication and outreach, projects design, development, monitoring and evaluation, as well as organization and management of conferences at various levels up to HSGIC.

• Several thematic workshops conducted during the APR process.
• Rwanda to have gone through the self-assessment exercise and the APR country self-assessment report produced.
• Several national stakeholders sensitised about NEPAD including mainstreaming of gender in the sensitisation programme. The national stakeholders will include the government, civil society organizations, private sector and others ensuring broad participation in the NEPAD initiative.
• Regular publications produced about NEPAD and APRM activities in Rwanda including the NEPAD magazine.
• NEPAD projects in Rwanda identified, designed and developed
• Partners identified and mobilized.
  
  Year two (2006)
  • Identified bankable NEPAD Projects integrated into national and sectoral programs
  • Production of a Rwanda National Action Plan with activities initiated.
  • Production of publications about NEPAD and APRM activities in Rwanda with more advocacies in the country.
  • Broader sensitization programme about NEPAD including sensitizing the general public.
  • Decisions and regulations of the National APR National Commission and the NEPAD Steering committee instituted.
  • More partners mobilized and resource contributions encouraged for financing the overall NEPAD/APRM programmes in the country.
    
    Year three (2007)
    • NEPAD projects integrated into national and sectoral programs at end of project
    • The planning process of government ministries and agencies to have oriented their strategies to those of NEPAD
    • Rwanda National Action Plan implementation to have commenced
    • Resources will have been mobilized to facilitate the achievement of the NEPAD goals in Rwanda