Kigali- 16th December 2015: 19 Rwandan Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) received grants totaling $620,000 (Rwf 460 000 000) as part of the ongoing programme “Strengthening CSOs for Responsive and Accountable Governance in Rwanda.” Recipients operate in the field of human rights, gender, civic education, social protection, citizen engagement, and women /youth/self-employment/culture promotion.
One UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Lamin M. Manneh and Professor Anastase Shyaka, the CEO of Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) led the signing ceremony which saw one umbrella organization receiving a grant of $80,000 (Rwf 60 000 000) while 18 organizations received $30,000 ( Rwf 22 000 000) each. The grantees were selected through a call for proposals and very competitive, transparent and independent proposals’ evaluation process.
Mukarutamu Daphrose is the head of Duhozanye Association, one of this year’s grant recipients. He believes that the support they received will contribute to the Association’s mission of providing socio-economic assistance to vulnerable widows in Save, Gisagara District.
“We are very delighted to receive this grant which will help us in our mission to assist vulnerable widows. We thank RGB and One UN for the support which will help in scaling up our activities,” said Mukarutamu.
Speaking at the award ceremony, the One UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Lamin M. Manneh highlighted the importance of working with Civil Society Organizations as a prerequisite to build a democratic society. “It is our firm belief that civil society can become an even more important change agent in Rwanda. Civil society has the big potential to bridge the gap between government authorities and local citizens, to promote deliberation and compromise,” said Mr. Manneh.
Also speaking at the occasion, Prof. Anastase Shyaka, the Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Governance Board, stressed that the Government of Rwanda in partnership with One UN will keep improving and working with them on different projects and programmes. He further urged grantees to deliver on their commitments and do even better than the 26 outgoing grantees.
“As I told you last time during a signing ceremony of the 26 grantees, “We walk the talk”! As today, new 19 Rwandan NGOs will receive grants; for a total amount of 620,000 USD; and there will be none on the waiting list!” said Prof. Shyaka.
The grants signing ceremony coincided with the Policy Dialogue on Civil Society Organizations. The Dialogue agenda included the launch of the 2015 Civil Society Development Barometer (CSDB) which measures five dimensions based on CSOs and citizens’ perceptions. The dimension, CSO values scored the highest at 70%, followed by CSO environment and impact/ effectiveness standing at 68%. The least developed areas are CSO institutional and organizational strength at 67% and citizen participation and inclusiveness at 61%.
The One UN Resident Coordinator stressed that although One UN’s resources are reducing, there is an emphasis on resource mobilization across all Agencies so that One UN in Rwanda can provide continued support to Civil Society Organizations, as they are crucial players in Rwanda’s development journey.
“We see you as veritable partners for Rwanda’s transformation and development, you have an important role to play and we will continue to mobilize resources to support you” said Mr. Manneh.