Participants at the ongoing Ninth annual Leadership Retreat taking place at Gako, Bugesera District, are laying out concrete strategies to help win the continued battle against poverty and accelerate economic development.The retreat, which came just weeks after the EDPRS1 report that showed remarkable progress in lifting Rwandans out of poverty, is critical in cementing the foundation upon which the government is gradually building a self-reliant and competitive economy.In its Vision 2020 blueprint, the government has set a clear target: steering the country to a middle-income economy. And, considering recent statistics, including the findings of the 2010 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) as well as the third Household Living Conditions Survey (EICV3) – which showed that a million Rwandans had crossed the poverty line in five years – it is clear that the nation is on course to achieving its ambitions.Furthermore, such findings are also important in the sense that they help guide deliberations and decisions at forums such as the retreat.The debate at the retreat has revolved around critical areas, such as energy, quality health care, customer service, employment and, of course, the need to fine-tune the policies that have proved efficient in the battle against poverty.With a 73.4 percent success rate in the implementation of the recommendations from last year’s Leadership Retreat, the general feeling is that efforts to fight poverty are paying off.The progress made so far should serve as motivation to work even harder.