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On August 15-16, the USAID Political Parties Strengthening Project implemented by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) held a workshop for political parties on political campaign management. The workshop was led by Mitchell Stewart, Executive Director of “Organizing for America” who managed Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in Virginia, and his primary campaigns in Iowa, Texas, and Indiana. The workshop generated a lot of interest among Rwandan political parties as they prepare for the next presidential elections scheduled for 2010. The parties were particularly interested in information about, and lessons learned from the last U.S. presidential campaign, specifically it related to developing a professional campaign structure, engaging youth, and fundraising. Since its commencement in August 2008, the project has trained 400 political leaders in party strengthening techniques, communications, conflict resolution, recruitment, internal democracy methods, and transparency.
On August 14, Coopérative Pour La Promotion Des Activités - Café (COOPAC), a Rwandan coffee producing cooperative, celebrated its robust financial results in 2008 and 2009 by recognizing its best farmers in these years. The cooperative distributed, from its profits, 53 cows to the famers who came first during the Cup of Excellence Competition held in Rwanda in late 2008. In addition, the cooperative presented 100 goats and 685 hoes to other high-performing farmers. COOPAC was supported by USAID between 2002 and 2006 through the Title II Food Monetization Program. With USAID’s support, the cooperative was able to build a coffee washing station and purchase equipment, such as drying tables and coffee bean de-pulping machinery. In addition, with USAID assistance, the cooperative has established links with markets in Europe for its Arabica Bourbon coffee. The cooperative has also received support from the African Development Fund and the Dutch government. Since its establishment in 2001, the cooperative has grown from 110 to over 2,300 members and the farmers’ income has grown six-fold.
On August 12, 158 community health workers from the Rubavu District completed a nine-day training course in maternal care. This training provided maternal community health workers with skills to follow up pregnant women in their communities, provide critical quality care to the mother and the newborn in the first week after delivery, as well as skills to refer women to a health center for delivery and postnatal and newborn care. The course was organized by JHPIEGO as part of the USAID-funded “Access to Clinical and Community Maternal, Neonatal and Women's Health Services” (ACCESS) Project, in partnership with the Rwandan Ministry of Health. In Rwanda, for every 1,000 live births, 28 babies die in the first month of life. The overwhelming majority (73%) of deaths in the first month of life is due to perinatal and early neonatal conditions. The maternal mortality rate is 750 per 100,000 live births. Only 45% of women deliver in a health facility.
On August 3, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, representatives from the Ministry of Health (MOH), and over 45,000 community health workers gathered at Rwanda’s Amahoro Stadium in Kigali for Iterero, a celebration signifying the end of a three-week training conducted by the MOH of community health volunteers countrywide. While 60,000 volunteers were trained through the program, 15,000 were not able to attend this spectacular event due to the limited capacity of the country’s national stadium. At the celebration, health workers pledged to the President to advance key values and vowed to expel social taboos associated with health, the environment, and the overall well-being of local communities. Seventy-five percent of USAID assistance supports the government of Rwanda’s health priorities in HIV/AIDS, malaria, family planning and maternal and child health.
On July 30, the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission presented the findings of their recent 2008 social cohesion survey to representatives of the Rwandan Parliament, National Service of Gacaca, and the Association of Genocide Survivors. This USAID-supported survey of 1200 individuals attempts to measure the degree of citizens’ trust in governmental initiatives, the degree of involvement of citizens in governmental reforms and decentralized governance and finally the judgment of citizens on judicial efficiency and fairness of the gacaca process. The survey provides a picture of the current opinion of Rwandans on various aspects of social cohesion, including interpersonal trust, trust in Government action and decentralization, attitudes toward land reform and toward various aspects of the gacaca process. Among the survey’s findings, social cohesion improved in 2008 compared to previous years.
On July 23, Rwanda’s Ministry of Youth launched the second phase of the PEPFAR-supported “SINIGURISHA” (I am not for sale) campaign: “True Friends Don’t Put Me at Risk!” Following the first message of “Gifts don’t equal sex. You always have the right to say no!” this second campaign phase will combat peer pressure as a key driver of cross-generational sex. “True Friends Don’t Put Me at Risk!” draws upon studies conducted last year in Rwanda, indicating that peer pressure is a key factor encouraging young girls and boys to engage in cross-generational sex. The SINIGURISHA campaign fights a key driver in HIV infection: cross-generational sex.
On July 20 and 22, USAID/Rwanda issued two solicitations requesting proposals for “Strengthening Civic Participation” and applications for “Strengthening Civil Society” projects in Rwanda. Both projects are a part of the $25-million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Threshold Program in Rwanda. Other activities include the following: to improve the impartiality, efficiency, and independence of the judiciary; facilitate the implementation of Rwanda’s legislative reform agenda; build the capacity of the media sector; and improve the internal investigation functions of the Rwandan National Police.
On July 20-21, the Rwandan Ministry of Health hosted the Health Sector “Big Lines” meeting for all USG health partners to share and discuss the strategic goals of all health programs for FY2009. The meeting, also attended by major health donors, provided an opportunity to strengthen the integration and joint prioritization of programs across the health sector.
On July 18, a wildfire engulfed the outer ridge of the Volcanoes National Park, home to Rwanda’s protected mountain gorillas. After five days of fighting the fire with nearly 4,000 locals and park rangers led by the Rwanda Defense Force, authorities have reported that the flames have been contained. The firefighting and rescue effort is projected to cost the Rwanda government an estimated US $175,000.
On July 16, USAID/Rwanda disseminated the 2007-08 Rwanda Interim Demographic and Health Survey (RIDHS), designed to provide reliable indicators to monitor and assess the implementation of the health sector programs and policies. Among the key findings, the survey shows a 17% increase from 2005-2007 in use of modern contraception among married women of reproductive age, and a decrease in infant mortality from 86 to 62 deaths per 1000 live births and child mortality from 152 to 103 per 1000.
On July 10, the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF) held an “Open Day,” an event organized to launch key documents on Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) and Gender issues, along with the MIGEPROF official website. The event also launched Kurana Ijabo Ugire Ijambo, a life-skills booklet for upper primary school children (10-12 years of age) produced by USAID-funded CHF/CHAMP project, a program established to address the needs of Rwandans living with HIV/AIDS, particularly community-based care and support of OVCs.
On July 7-9, USAID/Rwanda began the first of a series of measures planned under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Threshold Country Program, a three-year $25-million program designed to improve Rwanda’s scores on the Political Rights, Civil Liberties, and Voice and Accountability governance indicators. The Mission welcomed a new long-term resident police advisor who will work with the Rwandan National Police (RNP) to build the capacity of the RNP’s Inspectorate of Services to effectively monitor internal police performance with the goal of preventing misconduct, improving the interaction between the police and civil society, and encouraging better service delivery. Furthermore, USAID/Rwanda received the international media NGO IREX to Rwanda to begin a two-year project that will focus on strengthening the media sector. An interim Chief of Party is currently establishing an IREX office in Kigali and meeting with key stakeholders in the media sector in anticipation of implementing a range of capacity building activities and establishing two new community radio stations in the country.
On July 8, USAID/Rwanda signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Rwanda regarding partnership principles for support to the Justice, Reconciliation, Law and Order Sector. The purpose of this MOU is to better coordinate and align development partner assistance in the justice sector with Government of Rwanda priorities. The Netherlands, Germany, the European Commission, and Belgium also signed this document.
On July 1, U.S. Embassy Kigali will be closed in observance of the Rwanda Independence Day.
On June 26, U.S. Mission in Kigali hosted a Health Fair for all embassy staff and families focusing on issues concerning family planning. The fair featured a presentation by the former Health Minister and current Deputy Speaker of Parliament Jean Damascene on the methods and effectiveness of family planning. Various USAID partners, including Twubakane (IntraHealth), the Fertility Awareness-Based Methods (FAM) Project, PSI, Access to Clinical and Community Maternal Neonatal and Women’s Health Services (ACCESS), Capacity Project, and JHPIEGO, also facilitated information displays and answered questions on family planning strategies.
On June 24, Ambassador Symington and USAID Mission Director Dennis Weller along with Rwandan Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education Théoneste Mutsindashyaka participated in a ceremony presenting nearly 37,000 English dictionaries to the students at the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) Girls’ School in Gisozi. Receiving donations from the U.S. President’s Africa Education Initiative (AEI), dictionaries were distributed to 56 schools sponsored by the Ambassador’s Girls’ Scholarship Program (AGSP), a scholarship program providing education for disadvantaged but academically talented girls since 1999.
On June 22, François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Rwanda, a new OVC implementing partner under New Partners Initiative (NPI) Round 3, launched the expansion of their village model program in Rwanda and Uganda. It has designed the village model in which it provides a 3-year package to equip those in need with the tools to achieve improved health, as well as social and economic independence. FXB International was awarded $3,279,472 from USAID to support children and communities affected by HIV/AIDS. Under this Cooperative Agreement, FXB International will develop 20 new FXB-Villages - eight in Uganda and 12 in Rwanda. Each FXB-Village program serves approximately 80 households.
On June 14-15, the National Democratic Institute held a workshop on party membership building and communication for 35 political leaders, representing all nine registered political parties. The workshop concluded a series of trainings delivered by NDI as part of the USAID Political Party Strengthening Project. Nearly 400 political party leaders and members have attended 20 workshops the country’s five provinces. The themes of the trainings included Why Political Parties and the Structures of Political Parties; Transparency and Conflict Management; Party Outreach to Women and Youth; and Development and Communication of Effective Messages. The project aims to promote interparty dialogue and build the capacity of political partners to support continued development and democracy in Rwanda.
On June 8 – 12, the Global Fund sent a team from Geneva to review Rwanda’s National Strategy Applications in HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. USAID/Rwanda participated in the visit as part of the national facilitation team. The Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator also sent Janis Timberlake to participate to emphasize the partnership between the Global Fund and PEPFAR.
On June 8-12, 2009, the USAID Legislative Process Strengthening Project brought together a group of translators from several government ministries for a five-day Translation and Multilingual Drafting Workshop. As a trilingual country, Rwanda has unique needs in regards to drafting and implementing laws. Because legislation must be translated into Kinyarwanda, French and English, accurate drafting and translation of laws is an essential aspect of strengthening Rwanda’s legislative processes. The workshop, held in Huye (Butare), taught translators from the Parliament, the Ministry of Justice, and the Prime Minister’s Office techniques for translation in legislative drafting. It also provided a forum for the participants to share their experiences. The lessons learned at this workshop are important for the development of the country, as improvements in governance and service delivery begin with effective legislation drafting.
On June 3-4, the USAID-funded Rwanda Education Commons (REC) held a workshop on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Education: Partnership Building. The workshop brought together over 150 representatives from the Government of Rwanda (GOR), non-government organizations, educational institutions, and international ICT companies, such as Google, Cisco, Intel, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Motorola, and OLPC. The Charge d’Affaires Cheryl Sim joined five GOR ministers in opening the workshop. The workshop generated commitments of collaboration from many of the private sector partners. As part of its follow-up, the REC will coordinate these commitments and ground them in the GOR’s ICT in Education Strategy.
On June 4, Rwanda’s Ministry of Health launched a new radio distance learning program for community health workers. The radio program is supported by USAID through its Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization and Behavior Change and Social Marketing projects. This weekly 15-minute radio program will be broadcast twice a week and will focus on health topics, such as HIV care, treatment, and prevention services, family planning, malaria, safe water, and hygiene. The program complements classroom training received by community health workers and will equip them with information and skills necessary to improve the healthcare services they provide to the population.
On June 2, USAID/Rwanda signed a $327,000 public-private partnership, Global Development Alliance agreement with S.C. Johnson and the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture to support Rwandan pyrethrum farmers. This partnership will help improve the yields and the quality of Rwandan pyrethrum through strengthened farmer organizations, advanced technology and more effective agricultural practices. It is estimated that more than 4,000 Rwandan farming families will be able to increase their incomes as a result of this partnership. Refined pyrethrum extract is used for production of insecticides and related products. Fast acting and broad spectrum, this natural insecticide leaves no residue in the environment and does not enter food chains. It is one of the few insecticides approved for use on organic farms in Europe, the U.S., and Australia.
On May 29, the Rwandan Ministry of Finance endorsed amendments to the Strategic Objective Agreements with USAID for assistance in health and economic growth. The amendments extended the agreements by additional three years, to 2012, and increased USAID’s total funding provided to date from $311.8 million to $320.6 million in furtherance of the health objective and from $17 million to $22 million for the economic growth objective.
On May 26 – 28 USAID and its implementing partners took part in a three-day workshop in Musanze (Ruhengeri) organized by the CNLS. The purpose of the workshop was to develop an Operational Plan for the National HIV Strategic Plan 2009- 2012. The Operational Plan will be used to inform the National Strategy Application for the Global Fund (due August 31), the Partnership Framework (due September 1) and the planning for 2010 PEPFAR Country Operational Plan (due October 16).
On May 25-27, Rwanda held its first annual conference on Maternal and Newborn Health. The conference was organized by the Ministry of Health in partnership with the George Washington University. The conference brought together over 200 participants representing Rwandan government, international and national NGOs, health providers, and international experts. The conference focused on the main causes of maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity in Rwanda; reviewed best practices in maternal and neonatal health; and discussed challenges encountered by Rwandan health providers in ensuring the continuum of care, improving access to family planning, and integrating management of neonates at community and facility levels. The conference emphasized the need to strengthen training of health providers and community health workers in neonatal care, prevention, early and proper diagnosis, and treatment of maternal and childhood diseases.
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission visited Kigali during May 18-29, 2009 to conduct the sixth review of Rwanda's three-year program supported by the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility and to discuss economic policies for 2009/10. The statement issued by the IMF on June 2 notes that the global economic and financial crisis is now beginning to impact Rwanda with the economic growth projected to weaken from 11.2 percent in 2008 to about 5.3 percent in 2009 and 2010. The statement also expresses the IMF’s support for the Government of Rwanda’s expansion of the budget deficit in 2009/10, which will provide a necessary stimulus to the economy without compromising the government’s inflation and debt sustainability objectives. For more information, please visit http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2009/pr09194.htm.
On May 23, the Government of Rwanda launched “SINIGURISHA” (“I am not for sale”), a six-month HIV prevention campaign targeting Rwandan youth. Supported by PEPFAR, this campaign is designed to fight a key driver in HIV infection: cross-generational sex. The campaign seeks to increase the Rwandan youth’s awareness of their fundamental right to say “NO” to “sugar daddies” and “sugar mommies,” regardless of what gifts or money they are promised. The campaign also seeks to strengthen young peoples’ ability to resist the peer pressure they might feel, by teaching them to understand their own self worth, and the potential of their own bright futures. Finally, the campaign will teach opinion leaders, teachers, parents and communities that sugar daddies and sugar mommies should be considered “Enemies of Rwanda’s Bright Future.”
On May 18, the Rwanda Mission issued a request for proposals for its new five-year $63 million Social Services for Vulnerable Populations Project. The goal of this project is to reduce the risk and impact of HIV/AIDS and other health conditions on most vulnerable populations in Rwanda, especially people living with HIV/AIDS, orphans and vulnerable children, and their families. The project will expand access to health and social services for these groups of the population, enabling them to live productive lives. The solicitation closes on June 16.
On May 14, USAID/Rwanda signed an agreement with the Department of Justice the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) to implement training of the Rwandan National Police Inspectorate of Services (internal investigations). This $1.45 million activity, to begin in July, will be implemented as part of Rwanda’s Millennium Challenge Corporation Threshold Program and will support the Government of Rwanda in its efforts to promote civil rights and liberties by enhancing the quality and accountability of police internal investigations. Over the next two years, the project will build the capacity of the Rwandan National Police to effectively monitor internal police performance with the goal of preventing misconduct, improving the interaction between the police and civil society, and encouraging better service delivery.
On May 12, the Government of Rwanda launched a “National Emergency Plan to Fight Malnutrition,” with specific emphasis on child malnutrition. The initiative includes public and in-school education on balanced nutrition; strengthened programs such as village and family gardens and “one cow per family”; refresher trainings for Community Health Workers (CHW); CHW visits to each household to identify and provide referrals for care for all children with acute malnourishment; additional procurement of therapeutic foods, and provision of nutritional supplements. The goal is to mobilize all sectors to end malnutrition in Rwanda.
On May 7, Rwanda will begin the distribution of 550,000 long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets procured through the PMI program. Fifty thousand of these nets will be stored by the Rwandan Government in case of an epidemic; 250,000 will be distributed to the poorest of the poor; and the remaining 250,000 will be distributed through the routine national vaccination and antenatal care program administered by health facilities throughout the country. Later in the year, PMI plans to procure an additional 500,000 nets. Three years ago, only 16 percent of Rwandans slept under insecticide-treated mosquito nets, but the number has now grown to over 60 percent, including pregnant and expectant mothers and children under the age of five.
On May 2, nine legislative drafters in the Rwanda Ministry of Justice’s Legislative Drafting Unit completed a three-week legislative drafting training course. The USAID-sponsored training equipped the Ministry of Justice staff with knowledge and skills that will improve their ability to draft coherent and intelligible laws that are compatible with Rwanda’s existing legal framework and international obligations.
On April 25, the first children in Rwanda received the pneumococcal vaccine, marking its official launch in Rwanda. Rwanda is the first Sub-Saharan country to deliver the pneumococcal vaccine as part of its routine nation-wide immunization program. The program envisions immunizing 395,000 children annually. The vaccine was donated by Wyeth through the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. USAID has provided extensive technical support and cold storage equipment, and worked closely with the Rwandan Ministry of Health to ensure the success of the rollout of the vaccine.
On April 23, Rwanda Ambassador to the U.S. James Kimonyo and Dr. Corine Karema, Director of the Malaria Unit of the Rwanda Center for Infectious Disease Control, will meet on Capitol Hill with key U.S. policy makers, donor representatives, and technical experts to talk about Rwanda’s successful malaria control program and discuss how this experience can be applied in other parts of the world. Rwanda has achieved remarkable success in malaria control in recent years due to the Government of Rwanda’s strong leadership and coordinated international donor support. In the last three years, the number of deaths due to malaria has been cut by more than half.
On April 15, Ambassador Symington swore in 32 Peace Corps volunteers to serve in rural communities across Rwanda. This is the first group of volunteers in Rwanda since 1994, the year when the genocide against the Tutsi took place. The volunteers arrived in the country in January and have since been going through intensive technical, cross-cultural, and Kinyarwanda language training. The volunteers have backgrounds in health and will be involved in various community health works throughout the country.
On April 20, CAMERWA (Centrale d’Achat des Médicaments Essential, Consommables et Equipements Médicaux du Rwanda), the central office for procuring essential drugs medical equipment and supplies in Rwanda, will switch to a new integrated warehouse management and financial system (MACS and Sage 500). This new system, installed with PEPFAR support, will enable CAMERWA to better control its commodities and costs and improve its operational efficiency.
April 7 marked the beginning of the National Week of Mourning to commemorate the victims of the Rwandan genocide that began on this date 15 years ago. The genocide took the lives of at least 800 thousand people. President Paul Kagame, in his keynote address at an official remembrance ceremony, reminded Rwandans: "As we remember, life must go on and, we must continue to build for a better future. This is the message. A message we must constantly carry." The USG Mission in Rwanda held a memorial event for its staff on April 14. Twenty five local staff of the USG Mission, including 12 from USAID, died in the genocide.
On April 2, USAID donated a 10-cubic-meter cold room facility and a set of cold chain equipment to the Rwanda Ministry of Health for storage of the pneumococcal vaccine. The vaccine, donated by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals through the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, will be launched in Rwanda at the end of the month. The cold chain commodities, valued at $464,000, includes 100 kerosene-powered refrigerators, 258 vaccine carriers, 100 cold boxes, 67 ice packs, 1,000 thermometers, and 250 voltage regulators. The equipment is critical to ensuring the potency of the vaccine from its receipt in the country to the moment it gets to the child. The cold room and the equipment will store and preserve approximately 1.4 million dozes of the vaccine.
This month (March 2009), RCN Justice & Démocratie, a Belgian NGO, launched activities to implement its Rwanda Case Backlog Reduction Project supported by USAID/Rwanda through a grant. The project aims to reduce the backlog of pending cases that have accumulated in the national courts due to personnel shortages following the restructuring of Rwanda’s judicial system in 2004-2006. The project’s efforts will address long-term structural adjustments to the justice sector to prevent accumulation of delayed cases in the future, and by extension, delayed justice.
The Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization (GAVI) approved Rwanda and Gambia to be the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to include pneumonia vaccine as part of their regular routine Expanded Programs on Immunization (EPI). The vaccine arrived in Kigali on March 17. In preparation for the introduction of this vaccine, USAID has purchased cold chain equipment worth $500,000. The equipment will be handed over the Government of Rwanda by the end of March. An official launching of the vaccine is being planned for late April, and will be an important international event that will include the Directors of GAVI, WHO, UNICEF, the CEO of the company that manufactures the vaccine (Wyeth), and international media.
On March 25, the Ministry of Health of Rwanda held a health sector stakeholder meeting to develop a new Health Sector Strategic Plan that will cover the period of 2009-2012, as well as the sub-sector strategies in HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria. The Strategic Plan will focus on four priority areas: a) health promotion; b) maternal and child health, family planning, and nutrition; c) infectious diseases; and d) non-communicable diseases and injuries. USAID, whose budget in 2008 comprised $138 million, supports the first three of the priority areas. The completion of these strategies will also assist Rwanda's application to the Global Fund as part of the new National Strategy Application Initiative. Rwanda has been invited to submit strategies in HIV and TB as part of the "first learning wave" of this initiative.
On February 27, 2009, the World Food Program (WFP) Rwanda launched the scale up of its “Food for ART” Project in Rwanda, which provides crucial food support to malnourished Rwandans with HIV who are in their first six months of the anti-retroviral treatment. Supported by PEPFAR, through USAID, the expansion will enable the WFP Rwanda to provide dietary support to 10,000 new severely malnourished clients in food insecure districts throughout Rwanda. To ensure a longer-term impact of the program, the project will supplement food assistance with training in improved kitchen- and micro-gardening techniques that will enable the beneficiaries to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables available to their households, thus improving the households’ food security. Food assistance to be provided under the “Food for ART” Project is complementary to the HIV clinical services provided by PEPFAR partners. It will facilitate stabilizing of the patients during the first six months of the treatment, thus increasing the chances of the treatment success.
On February 23-27, the East Africa Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) Network meeting is taking place in Kigali. The East Africa PHE Network serves as a forum for information exchange, community networking, and advocacy to promote greater PHE integration for sustainable development in East Africa. It is supported by USAID through its PHE Program implemented by the Population Reference Bureau. The meeting brings together professionals, researchers, and policymakers across East Africa, as well as the international PHE community, to share experiences from work on PHE linkages and to develop an action plan for the year in furtherance of the Network’s objectives. The review of the participating countries’ progress since the Network’s first meeting in November 2007 revealed that Rwanda and Ethiopia have been more successful in promoting PHE integration than other countries in the Network. The success was attributed to USAID and the David & Lucile Packard Foundation’s lead of this effort in Rwanda and Ethiopia, respectively. During the next few days of the meeting, the participants will visit several sites supported through USAID projects, including a coffee washing station, a coffee cupping laboratory, an eco-tourism site in the Nyungwe National Park, and health centers serving the community living in and around the park. The site visits will illustrate examples of and lessons learned from innovative solutions to integrate health and environment.
On February 12–14, the Sixth Annual African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition will take place in Kigali. The conference is organized by the Eastern African Fine Coffees Association (EAFCA) with support from USAID and other organizations. Established in 2000, EAFCA is a regional association representing coffee sectors in ten member countries in East Africa. The conference will bring together representatives of regional coffee sectors, regional and international coffee experts, NGOs, and private businesses involved in the East Africa coffee sector. It will provide a venue for participants to discuss challenges and opportunities of the East Africa coffee sector, including issues affecting coffee production, processing, marketing, trading, and sustainability of East Africa specialty coffee. Ambassador Symington will speak at the opening of the conference. In addition, USAID is sponsoring a networking event held as part of the conference agenda. USAID supports EAFCA through its Regional Agricultural Trade Expansion Support (RATES) Program. In Rwanda, due in large part to USAID’s assistance, the country has enjoyed growth in both tons of specialty coffee produced and in export revenue, which grew from zero dollars in 2002 to $8 million in 2007. Coffee is one of the country's largest export earners and specialty coffee contributes to the industry's growth and sustainability.
On January 23, 2009, USAID Food Aid Project implemented by ACDI/VOCA distributed the last batch of beehives and other honey processing equipment to 100 beekeeping farmers of Gasabo, Kicukiro, and Rulindo Districts in Rwanda. The equipment distribution, which started in December 2008, is part of technical assistance provided by the project to promote honey production as a type of farming that is environmentally sound and does not require large areas of land or resources. Over the next few months, the project will also help rehabilitate a building that will serve as a center for the collection and processing of bee products (e.g., honey and beeswax). The honey center will also be used to organize and train honey producers on production and quality (e.g., bee feeding in dry season and hygiene at the harvest time). The activity aims to increase local capacity to produce quality honey and other related, residual products. It will also help generate and provide additional income to 100 honey producers and their families (approximately, USD 367 per household per year) in order to meet some of their basic food and household needs. Through its income generating potential, the activity contributes to overall food security of the farmers.
Today (January 21), as part of the President's Malaria Initiative, USAID started the third round of indoor-residual spraying (IRS) in Rwanda. More than 885,000 people benefitted from the last IRS campaign conducted in August-October 2008, when nearly 190,000 households were sprayed. This campaign will focus on the same five districts and aims to spray up to 200,000 households. As in the last campaign, the spraying operators will work in shifts, an innovative approach that was used in Rwanda during the last spraying campaign. Shift-based operator work schedules, which required having a sufficient number of spraying operators trained, was key to successful completion of the last round of spraying. The shifts were required because of a compressed timeframe available for spraying due to a short time between rainy seasons; long spraying hours daily, often throughout weekends; and cases of operators' unexpected unavailability during the course of the campaign.
On January 9-10, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) held a seminar on “Functions, Perceptions of Performance, and Future of Political Parties in Rwanda's Elections.” This seminar was held as part of the USAID-funded “Political Parties Strengthening” Project in Rwanda. This one-year project--started in fall 2008--was designed to strengthen the institutional capacity of Rwanda’s political parties, helping them move toward democratically organized, issue-based organizations. Representatives of all nine political parties, including the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF); 11 Parliamentarians; and the Minister of Youth, who is also the President of the Liberal Party and the Spokesperson for the Consultative Forum for Political Organizations in Rwanda, attended the seminar. Participants engaged in open and sincere discussions and debates. During an anonymous exercise conducted during the seminar, participants noted the main challenges that Rwanda is facing and what parties can do to address them. This input will inform project activities during the course of the year. In addition, the participants discussed and endorsed the project’s work plan, including the proposed training courses and methodology, while stressing the importance of training in provinces. The parties expressed their readiness to utilize the project’s resources in the coming months.
On January 3, 2009, CHF International and its partners will launch the 2009 school year in honor of approximately 34,000 children in Rulindo district of Rwanda’s Northern Province, while also celebrating the graduation of 1,271 young adults from their 2008 vocational training supported through PEPFAR-funded Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Program (CHAMP). CHAMP implements programs that provide palliative care, behavior change communication, economic opportunities, linkages and OVC services to people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. This event is part of CHAMP’s program of educational and psychosocial support for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). The U.S. Ambassador, the Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, and the Governor of the Northern Province will distribute school materials to nearly 2,000 primary and secondary schoolchildren, as well as diplomas of training completion and start-up kits to 252 children who are heads of households from Rulindo district. The event will include radio interviews with orphans in Rulindo and an hour-long live radio program on Contact FM discussing the situation of OVC in Rwanda. The event will also be promoted on CHAMP’s weekly youth radio program, Zibukira, which will receive phone calls from radio listeners during the show. During the past year, CHAMP has supported 39,000 OVC. The total number of OVC supported by PEPFAR in Rwanda last year exceeded 63,000.
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