Govt, dev’t partners in aid-efficiency retreat

Government is finalising plans to streamline aid interventions to ensure development assistance is more effective, the finance minister has said. Amb. Claver Gatete made the remarks yesterday shortly after opening a two-day development partners retreat in Rubavu District. The government has advised development partners—all bilateral and multilateral organisations and partnerships that provide both technical and financial support to Rwanda—to channel their support in the form of ‘sector budget support’, essentially giving them a chance to pick a priority area for their support. The changes are scheduled to take effect then next fiscal year. While many donors have been channeling their aid through sector budget support and indeed picking areas to support within the planned national budget, some donors were still providing aid through what is known as ‘project support’ that is not documented in the national budget planning and implementation. That’s about to change, the finance minister said in an interview yesterday, as the government moves to engage its partners more in efforts to deliver sustainable development. “This next fiscal year, every project funded by donors has to be documented and monitored as part of sector budget support. We need to plan and implement projects together in the interests of Rwandans. That’s why we don’t need any more projects outside the national budget planning starting with the next fiscal year on July 1,” he said. “We need to assess the plans and accountability for the activities in which the money was spent, where did things work out, what were the challenges, and what was the impact on the development of Rwanda.” At the development partners’ meeting, development partners and top government technocrats held discussions about the country’s economic development plan. Rwanda, which depends on donors for about 40 per cent of its budget, launched her second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS2) agenda in September last year as a five-year and Rwf10-trillion plan to deliver the country to a middle income status. Government needs full cooperation and constant communication with development partners for the successful implementation of the plan, Gatete said. “We want to make sure that resources are well directed so that they can have the best impact,” he told representatives of various donor organisations and countries. The minister said the government currently has a “good relationship” with development partners, indicating that they had all resolved to continue their development aid for Rwanda after the country addressed donors’ concerns over M23 rebels in eastern Congo. “We now have good relations with our development partners. That’s why we are here meeting today,” Gatete said, explaining that most of the donors have since delivered on their aid commitments to Rwanda. According to Carolyn Turk, World Bank country manager, the government and development partners need to work together to ensure timely monitoring of the implementation of EDPRS2, communication between partners operating in the same sectors, and share statistics and reports. Turk describes EDPRS2 as a “good framework” for monitoring the country’s development progress. Under the plan’s implementation between 2013 and 2018, the country’s economy is set to grow by an average 11.5 per cent by 2018 and the GDP per capita to increase from the current $644 to $1,240 by the year 2020. By focusing on four pillars—economic transformation, rural development, productivity and youth employment, as well as accountable governance— EDPRS 2 aims at reducing the 44.9 per cent overall poverty level recorded in 2011 to below 30 per cent by 2018.

National

Govt, dev’t partners in aid-efficiency retreat