Access to decent and affordable housing, especially for the growing urban population, remains top on the agenda as Rwanda joins the rest of the world to mark World Habitat Day (WHD) tomorrow.

WHD is observed annually every first Monday of October and in Rwanda, it preceded by week of activities to mobilise the population on their role in preventing proliferation of new informal settlements.

Esther Mutamba, the Director General of the Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA), said that the National Habitat Week started on September 27 and ends today.

According to Mutamba, the Office of the Prime Minister had established an inter-ministerial steering committee headed by the Ministry of Infrastructure, to come up with parameters for planned and affordable housing. They include Minaloc, Minecofin, Rwanda Development Board and the Private Sector Federation.

"They are currently on a countrywide public awareness campaign in targeted potential urban areas in Secondary Cities and on the process of implementing the master plan,” Mutamba said.

At national level WHD celebrations will be held in Agatare Cell, Gitega Sector in Nyarugenge District, site of a pilot project on upgrading informal settlements. Other smaller projects are planned for Musanze and Huye districts.

According to Mutamba, RHA is mulling a new affordable housing pilot project in Kicukiro District as part of the efforts to ease the housing shortage in the City of Kigali. The project will see eight blocks, of four storeys each, built for about 128 families in Ngoma Cell, near Ziniya market.

Details about the cost of the project and how affordable the units will be are still being worked out, Mutamba said. 

"We are assessing several key things including prices. We are working on the applicability of affordable housing concept. This issue of affordable housing is something new, and we are involved in a lot of negotiations,” she said.

"We are looking at best practices and options. For example, will the government construct houses or should we bring in private investors? Everything has to be considered for the best possible outcome, and negotiations continue”.

According to the RHA, Rwanda has experienced rapid population growth over the last 30 years and this has not been matched by housing units—calling for partnership between the government and the private sector to address the challenge.

Kigali’s population as of 2012 reached 1.1 million and is projected to grow to about two million by 2022. According to a survey initiated in 2012 by the City of Kigali on housing market demand, the total housing demand in the city by 2022 is projected to be 458,265 dwelling units.

This could be met by maintaining part of the existing housing stock in good shape and upgrading those that can be improved. The current demand, according to the RHA, is estimated at 344,068 units between 2012 and 2022.

The celebrating WHD is the United Nations’ principal vehicle to reflect on the state of human settlements and encourage worldwide awareness and action for the right to adequate shelter.

Over the years it has grown to be a broad, global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated by stakeholders in over 100 countries.

The UN theme for this year’s WHD, is ‘Voices from the Slums.’  The national theme is: "Informal settlement Upgrading and Community Empowerment for Sustainable Development.”  According to RHA, the national theme is relevant to the existing local situation as well as the international world theme.