Following the aftermath of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi where many genocide survivors were in dire need of life’s basics but were getting inadequate or no support, the government established the Assistance to the Needy Genocide Survivors (FARG) to attend to that challenge. The fund was established in 1998 with the mission of promoting the social welfare of the neediest survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi.

Its vision was to ensure that all genocide survivors are fully integrated in social development programmes such as the Vision Umurenge programme (VUP) , Community Health Insurance (MUSA) Girinka and UBUDEHE and participate in national development programs.

Since then, FARG has been running thanks to the revenue from Government budget which provides an amount equivalent to 6% of the annual domestic revenues.

Since its establishment, FARG has been providing support to genocide survivors in five areas namely; health, social rehabilitation, shelter, education as well as Income Generating Activities (IGA).

In Health, FARG pays to the referral hospitals the percentage a beneficiary should pay after insurance companies has cleared it parts

FARG has also provided shelter construction and rehabilitation of houses of the needy survivors.

Over the past years, the Fund has played a bigger role in ensuring that children from poor families acquire education just like other Rwandans and paid tuition fees in secondary and in higher learning institutions where, besides the tuition fee, it also paid living allowances and school materials.

In Income Generating Activities (IGA) it supported small projects as well including Girinka.

In figures

According to official figures from FARG, the government has injected billions of francs to ensure the beneficiaries are supported.

In Education, Rwf 149. 5 billion was spent from 1998 to 2016 and 702,234 students from both secondary and in higher learning institutions benefited from the fund.

In health sector Rwf 12.79 billion was spend to over 2,394,514 cases including 352 individuals treated from abroad.

In providing shelter over 25,804 houses were constructed while 511 were rehabilitated at a total cost of Rwf33.9 billion.

Under the direct support program, over Rwf14.6 billion was spend in supporting 616,910 vulnerable survivors including 4,470 of childless elderly people commonly known as Incike while 8.6 billion was spent on supporting 52,571 in starting Income Generating Activities.

Good leadership, excellent results

FARG and beneficiaries in general boast of a lot of achievements and all is attributed to the good leadership let by the President Paul Kagame who led the liberation struggle and stopped the genocide.

"We are thankful that we have managed to educate vulnerable orphans who would not have got chance to go to school after the genocide. We have thousands that have completed secondary and university education and now contribute to the national building while serving in both public and private institutions,” enthuses Theophile Ruberangeyo, FARG Director General.

"It is one of the most important things that interest a parent to see their children completing higher education and securing employment, it is a huge achievement,” he added.

Among other achievements, Ruberangeyo says that FARG was to contribute towards treatment of survivors wounds sustained during the genocide and ensuring that at least every vulnerable one it treated.

"We have been able to offer medical treatment to thousands of genocide survivors who sustained major injuries during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis and we have been blessed with the support of Rwanda Military Hospital specialists. It is our pride that the survivors were treated by same people who saved them from killings,” Ruberangeyo noted.

Mindset change

Ruberangeyo says that the most important milestone is that over the years, any support provided did not only lift the beneficiaries from vulnerability but also contributed towards mindset change.

He attributed this to the partnership between FARG and other government institutions such as The National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), IBUKA, Unity Club and other public and private institutions among others.

"Genocide survivors could not see hope in the future after the genocide but we are grateful that now they have realized their life goals and the future is the best. Thanks to the change of mindset, survivors have hope for better life and for their children,” he said

Way forward

As FARG plans to phase out some programmes such as paying school fees for the vulnerable students, the main focus in future will be to ensure that the childless elderly people and old people in general are supported to live a better life they would be living, hadn’t all their relatives been killed during the genocide.

"The next step is to keep supporting the childless elderly people as the older they get older, the needier they become,” Ruberangeyo said

"We will also work on renovation of vulnerable survivors’ houses which have got dilapidated over time while also looking for ways of constructing more houses like two in one houses for homeless survivors as per the government programme,” he added.

While after the genocide it was hard for all the children as some had to take care of the young siblings while others could drop out of schools due to various circumstances, the survivors fund believes those who never had chance to attend mainstream education still deserve to be equipped with vocational skills.

"We also need to focus on supporting young survivors who dropped out of school due to the fact that they had to take care of their siblings or other various reasons; we shall help them acquire technical and vocational skills,” he said.