Rwanda Initiative for Sustainable Development (RISD) is set to adopt use of ICT in its work including monitoring to ensure efficient land use and access.

This is one of the priority areas highlighted in RISD’s new five-year strategic plan 2016-2020, which was unveiled in Kigali on Friday.

The implementation will cost about $11 million.

Participants at the event contended that given the high population growth that is likely to put pressure on land and the land related conflicts, there is a need to design proper approaches to ensure proper land management.

Speaking at the launch, Annie Kairaba, the RISD managing director, said they would step up research and information sharing through ICT use.

She said they want land related issues to be addressed in time so that people are able to develop their plots of land.

Kairaba called on Rwandans to always address land conflicts with help of local mediators instead of running to courts.

"We will continue to monitor to establish how people can solve land related conflicts without going to courts,” Kairaba said.

RISD’s new five-year strategy key areas include promotion and strengthening of tripartite partnership between the civil society, government and development partners.

It also seeks to focus on monitoring the National Land Reform implementation, climate change and gender land related issues.

The strategy aims to secure land rights for marginalised groups, including but not limited to, women, youth heading families and people infected with HIV/AIDS, across 11 districts of the country.

Jan Vlaar, who represented the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Rwanda, Frédérique de Man, observed that activities of civil society organisations are supposed complement government development efforts.

The Netherlands has funded RISD to strengthen the capacity of local mediators (Abunzi) as part of the justice sector.

"We believe that civil society organisations are well positioned to be the voice of citizens. In so doing, they can help make the government more accountable and increase its legitimacy, contributing to greater social cohesion, stronger and more open democracies, a better response to environmental problems, a better business climate, more opportunities for all and less inequality,” said Vlaar, the Dutch Embassy First Secretary - Water and Environment.

Odette Yankurije, the head of Access to Justice department at the Ministry of Justice, said land disputes, reforms and rights are all about justice and human rights.

She said when people are sure of their land rights they are motivated to invest in it, increases land productivity, and income.

Income increases financing opportunity which contributes to national development, she said.

An understanding reached between the Ministry of Justice with RISD and the Office for Access to Justice, for Abunzi capacity building in 10 districts of its operations has had a significant impact in land conflicts resolution, according to Yankurije.

In the past five year strategic plan, RISD trained and worked with more than 3,600 local mediators, solved about 5,043 cases among some 6,474 land-related cases through mediation in 10 districts of its intervention.

It also built capacity of 30 legal agents working in the Office for Access to Justice in the 10 districts of its operation.

Over the past five years, RISD has had an average annual operating budget of $560,000.

Projects under the new strategy will be funded by the Netherlands Government through the Netherlands Embassy in Rwanda, with contribution from the German Government through German Development Corporation.

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