The Government of Rwanda, together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from the Republic of Korea, yesterday, launched a web-based Centre of Excellence to share knowledge relevant to the promotion and achievement of locally-developed solutions to global environmental challenges.

The platform was set up and is managed by the Rwanda Green Fund, an autonomous body set up by the government to invest in public and private projects that have the potential for transformative change and that align with Rwanda’s commitment to building a strong green economy.

The online centre was launched at a policy dialogue on ‘Inclusive and Sustainable New Communities’.

In his speech at the launch, the CEO of the Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA), Hubert Ruzibiza, appreciated the government’s growing engagement with development partners who, he said, continue to support national programmes.

"The government has developed local solutions that respond to development challenges in various sectors. The local solutions that have contributed to remarkable socio-economic transformation include Green Villages, the Girinka programme and Umuganda. Empowering the community is at the heart of its development approach,” he said.

He noted that individuals and corporations are benefiting much more from knowledge management programmes, especially if they are action-oriented.

Today, networks for sharing knowledge are becoming increasingly important and institutions need to be innovative. Knowledge is a public good. The online knowledge sharing platform we launch today will help facilitate the exchange of available knowledge on tools and practices and connect different institutions,” he said.

FONERWA has hitherto supported 32 projects that promote the green economy and deal with the impacts of climate change – acting as the avenue through which development partners can contribute to Rwanda’s green growth ambitions.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of UNDP, Fodé Ndiaye, said that there was a lot to learn from both success and failure, adding that Online Centre of Excellence will play a significant role in contributing to development dialogues.

"Rwanda has developed a number of innovative solutions to its development challenges over the past 20 years and will be helping others by sharing its successes through this platform with other countries, Rwanda will be helping others,” he said.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Rwanda, Kim Eung Joong, explained that the project was an idea that was based on multi-country initiative based on a form of community-driven local development in Korea called Saemaul Undong (SMU).

"UNDP and the Republic of Korea partnered to promote the SMU-inspired Inclusive and Sustainable New Communities) programme in six countries: Rwanda, Uganda, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Bolivia. Rwanda’s experience was the only one of the six to involve the development of a virtual platform to facilitate knowledge management and sharing,” he said.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw