Liberation21: A glance at the milestones

Stopping the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was a major turning point in the nation’s history, no doubt. Nonetheless, celebrations were short-lived. The liberators had to swiftly come to terms with the fact that they had only won one battle and that many more lay ahead. Perpetrators of the Genocide had left the nation in utter social, economic and political devastation. There would be instant and stretched battles against: poverty, disunity, and the Genocide ideology, among others. The ensuing reconstruction battles were not expected to be easy. But what the nation has achieved 21 years later, is beyond expectations, especially bearing in mind that perpetrators of the Genocide continue to nurse a genocide ideology. They long for another chance to complete their agenda. Security and stability Prof. Manasseh Nshuti, a Kigali-based economist, is of the view that Rwanda being both a post conflict and post Genocide situation, it has registered since 1994. “You cannot talk of growth without stability,” says Nshuti, who has also served as a cabinet minister in different portfolios. The country is now among the world’s top seven troop contributors to UN peacekeeping missions. Wherever they are deployed, Rwandan troops have moved beyond traditional peacekeeping approaches and continue to work with communities where they are based in initiating beneficial Quick Impact Projects (QIPs), particularly in Darfur and Haiti. They built classrooms and hospitals, trained locals to use energy-saving stoves, and led communities in cleanup exercises. Improving a nation’s health When in mid 2012, Rwanda became the fourth African country to introduce the rotavirus vaccine to prevent deaths related to diarrheal disease; it was a milestone in efforts to promote child survival. Indeed, the introduction of Mutuelles de Sante was another battle won, as a great health tool was launched to provide universal healthcare. And it was not the last of the battles in the health sphere: Despite niggling challenges, today, tertiary care is being extended across the country. Tertiary care hospitals – those that provide health care from specialists in a large hospital after referral from primary care and secondary care – are already established in Kibungo, Kibuye and Ruhengeri and equipped with modern equipment. New ones in Rwamagana, Kinazi, Kinihira and Bushenge are in the pipeline, the rationale being, to provide all Rwandans with quality and affordable healthcare. With 37 Government hospitals in place, each of the 30 districts has a hospital. But most importantly, each of the country’s mostly rural 416 sectors now has a health centre. “We have managed to achieve all this because the environment we operate in is very conducive, with security and peace, people are focused on development and economic growth,” said Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, the Health Minister. “Accountability and transparency have been key to the development of the health sector. In addition, collaboration and working together with other government institutions also contributed in attaining good results in the health sector.” Among others, there has been a significant decrease in the maternal mortality rate, with Rwanda making good progress towards achieving the MDG target [MDG goal five] of reducing the rate from 1,300 per 1,000,000 live births in 1990 to 325 in 2015. The main reason for the improvement is ever increasing number of women giving birth in a health-care facility attended by a qualified health care professional and the introduction of maternal death audit. Reconciliation, peaceful coexistence Again, despite countless hurdles, exceptional work has also been done in promoting peace, unity, harmony, healing, and reconciliation after the wounds of the 1994 Genocide. The nation’s people opened a new chapter of peaceful coexistence since 1994, another battle won, another key milestone given what happened between 1990 and 1994. The Genocide, which left a million innocent people dead, was perpetrated against neighbours by neighbours. However, twenty-one years later, survivors and perpetrators have made significant steps towards reconciliation. Good leadership The good leadership the country enjoyed after 1994, Nshuti says, laid the foundation that marked the start of a new chapter. It led to fundamental change and marked a specific phase in the development of the nation. “No one could have imagined the country growing eight fold, since 1994,” he said adding that against all those odds, the country prevailed. In 2014, the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) put GDP at current market prices at Rwf5,389 billion, up from Rwf 4,864 billion in 2013. In the first quarter of 2015, GDP was estimated to be Rwf1,377 billion, up from Rwf1,282 billion in the same quarter of 2014. “We don’t have resources and we can’t compare with almost all the neighbouring countries, resources in terms of agricultural, forestry, mines, name it. The only thing we can count on is good leadership. No corruption, no stealing, nothing! We use the few resources in the best way possible. Thus, being where we are is itself a major milestone,” he said.

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Liberation21: A glance at the milestones