RWANDA

Rwanda is one of the first sixteen countries to accede to the APRM by signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 9th March 2003. It is also among the first three countries at the forefront in the implementation of the APRM through a self-assessment exercise in the four APRM thematic areas: (democracy and good political governance, economic governance and management, corporate governance, socio-economic development) starting June 2004.

Rwanda produced a National Programme of Action (NPoA) that reflects the status of its implementation, implementation challenges and steps taken to address the existing challenges.

Findings on the implementation of strategies and programmes aimed at bridging governance challenges emphasized in the APRM National Programme of Action (APRM NPoA) have been presented in an annual progress report.

Since the commencement of the self-assessment, a number of governance gaps were identified and some of the gaps identified were in line with on going government reforms. Currently a number of recommendations provided by the self-assessment exercise and later by the external review are in the process of implementation while others have been fully implemented. In this way the government is making efforts towards improving the policy-making processes and complies with ratified standards and codes by involving all stakeholders in the country for a better governance system.

DEMOCRACY AND GOOD POLITICAL GOVERNANCE

•  Regional Commissions have been set up to ensure cross-border peace and security and illegally possessed small arms are being destroyed;

•  The judicial system is being reinforced through more transparency in parliamentary proceedings, provision of short courses, workshops and study tours to train judges, advocates and lawyers;

•  To ensure accountable, efficient and effective public office holders and civil servants, a code of conduct for senior politicians has been published in 2006 and a code of conduct for other civil servants is on the process of being submitted to the cabinet for review;

•  To fight corruption in the public sphere, an anti-corruption body, the Office of the Ombudsman has been established and reinforced through several sensitization campaign against corruption;

•  A five Year Plan for the promotion of Women's employment has been established;

•  To ensure Children's rights and welfare, some legislative achievements have been made and important initiatives are being carried out (revising the Penal Code, the Family Code…).

ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

•  A revised banking Act has been promulgated in early 2007 for an effective banking supervision (a comprehensive risk management, easy information sharing, confidentiality of flow of information…);

•  To promote sound financial macroeconomic framework, the Central Bank's Act is being reviewed and it's currently in the Economic Commission for verification before being sent to the Senate;

•  The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has prepared a Financial Sector Development Plan in order to create a functioning financial sector. Among its achievements, one can mention the establishment of the Electronic payment system throughout the country and the enhancement of the Clearing System;

•  A National Institute of Statistics has been established;

•  In compliance with the long term plan of the government to build the capacity of the poor population through employment creation, a micro-finance policy has been approved by Cabinet in September 2006;

•  To promote sound public finance management and increase national awareness of economic policies and their implementation progress, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance issue progress reports and plan regular meetings with the concerned Civil Society;

•  Capacity building for public accountants and timely expenditure reports has been developed.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

•  The investment Code has been revised and the Investment Promotion Agency has been restructured toward a more outward oriented approach;

•  To meet requirements made by the PoA, efforts have been made: implementation of a credible database of bank customers, a new Draft Organic Labor Law has been decided in Parliament, land registration has been decentralized to district level;

•  All Banks are applying the newly legislated accounting law complying National Accounting Plan with International Accounting Standards (IAS);

•  The Auditor General's Office and the Office of the Ombudsman work together and carry out investigations and sensitization programmes aimed at fighting corruption;

•  The number of qualified accountants has increased;

•  A Capacity Building programme covering the government, parliament, private sector and NGOs has been presented in collaboration with the World Bank.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

•  The number of district employees with relevant skill in project management has been increased for district development;

•  Figures state that overall poverty level has declined;

•  The government started in 2006, the “one cow per poor Household programme”, one of its strategic approaches to economic growth and development under which 600,000 poor households benefit;

•  To improve food security in the country, Communal granaries have been constructed in all districts;

•  Through national campaigns to reduce stigma and discrimination, the increase in the number of Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) sites and the improved treatment of sufferers, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is in progress;

•  A New Curriculum, free of discrimination and gender stereotype has been set.

More information is available on http://www.nepad.org/aprm