Weekly review

Rwanda ranks high in terms of access to ARVs A New report by several UN agencies has ranked Rwanda among eight countries worldwide that have registered significant progress in increasing access to anti-HIV/Aids services, including antiretroviral drugs. The report titled, ‘Towards universal access’ was compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The report that assessed the HIV/Aids progress in 144 low and middle-income countries in 2009 indicated that Rwanda and seven other countries are the only nations that achieved universal access to antiretroviral treatment.Rwanda, CEPGL get EU funds The European Union Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs and the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, John Rwangombwa, on Thursday, signed an agreement valued at Euros 6.85 million, to help Rwanda improve its public financial management capacities. The funds will be channeled through Rwanda Institutional Support to Statistics and Public Financial Management (RISSP) and would support in the implementation of government strategies in the areas of statistics and public financial management. CEPGL member states are Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. EAC tackles transport infrastructure Transport experts from the five partner states of the East African Community are currently meeting in Kampala, Uganda to assess the bloc’s stand on transport and road development. Speaking to The New Times, the community’s Deputy Secretary General, Aloys Mutabingwa who opened the conference said that the conference’s resolutions will be forwarded to council of ministers for approval. Mutabingwa was quoted as saying that over 1000km require immediate renovation and another 1700km are currently in a very bad state due to pavement deterioration. Among the roads cited are, the road linking Burundi and Tanzania on Kigoma side, the one on Lake Kivu linking Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and northern corridor up Rwanda. Rwanda on track to achieve MDG Rwanda has expressed optimism that the remaining Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be achieved within the next five years, despite the challenges ahead. During the last concluded UN MDGs summit in New York, Rwanda was cited as one as one of the few countries that have taken great strides in achieving the MDGs “particularly in the area of maternal and children’s health.” EU officials on how aid is utilised The visiting delegation from the European Union (EU) has said that they are impressed by Rwanda’s use of aid and zero tolerance to corruption. The team on a fact finding mission to asses the effectiveness of aid and the level of development of various projects, commended Rwanda’s initiative in agriculture, especially terracing and coffee growing. Govt donates bicycles The ministry of justice, early this week donated over 200 bicycles to chairpersons of mediation committees commonly known as Abunzi in the district of Kirehe and Rwamagana. Jean Horanimana, the officer in charge of Access to justice bureau in Rwamagana, said the support is meant to ease movement of members of the mediator committee. Local gov’t elections to cost Rwf 5bn An estimated Rwf 5 billion will be spent to fund the forthcoming local government elections slated for March 2011, the Executive Secretary of the National Electoral Commission(NEC), Charles Munyaneza, is reported to have said. NEC officials will meet next week to put final touches on the budget. “The biggest chunk of this budget will go to updating and cleaning the voters’ register in all the country’s 30 districts, he added that next year’s elections will also see voters being issued new voter cards either because they have lost their cards or are worn out. After the local government elections, Rwandans will also head into the Senatorial elections scheduled for October 2011. Ends