Immaculee Ingabire, the chairperson of Transparency Rwanda (TR), has disclosed that Rwanda has taken remarkable steps in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s).

She made the remarks yesterday while officiating at the regional meeting on ‘Exchange-Africa, corruption and the MDG’s,’ that brought together Transparency International and all stakeholders representing government, parliament, NGO’s and the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

"In Rwanda, I can proudly mention a remarkable step has been taken in attaining the MDG’s especially the goal of achieving Universal Primary Education (UPE) and promotion of gender equality and women empowerment,” she said.

She told the participants to engage CSOs in implementing the MDG’s in various chapters, experiences, best practices and success stories.

"There is yet a long way to go towards achieving the MDG’s, it is now our task to see that achievement of these goals is for none other than us the civil societies, to implement through advocacy where possible,” she explained.

Maximilien Usengumuremyi the Director of Planning in the Ministry of Finance also reiterated that the country has achieved most of these goals.

"We are sure that most of the MDG’s in our country are achievable due to the good leadership,” he noted.

Richard Mbomboma, Country Representative SIDA (Swedish Development Agency) said that, five years to the set deadline for MDG achievement (2015), there is still a long way to go for some African countries.

"The issue today is not to achieve the MDG’s but to reflect on why some of the African countries have failed to attain them,” he added.

The one-day meeting was organised by Transparency International (TI) in partnership with Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) and aimed at creating linkages between governance, anti-corruption initiatives and the MDG- sector.

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