Get closer to communities, NGOs told

Local and international NGOs operating in Gasabo District should extend their operations beyond urban centres to benefit the rural population.The call was made at a meeting that brought together officials from the City of Kigali, as well as vice mayors, gender ministry officials and heads of the district Joint Action Development Forums (JADF) from the three districts that make up Kigali City.“The biggest part of the district is rural, implying that most people are resident in this area, but developing partners have so much concentrated in urban centres,” said Ananie Muhoza, the districts` JADF representative.Established in 2007, JADF is a countrywide platform set up to help formulate relevant policies and development actions at the district-level.The meeting aimed at bringing together district authorities, civil society organisations and the private sector, among other development partners, to review the progress, challenges and way forward. They specifically discussed gender.Similar meetings are ongoing in other parts of the country.The meeting also noted that some development partners engage in duplication, thereby making it hard to identify or assess their impact.Kigali City vice mayor in charge of Social Affairs, Hope Tumukunde, challenged district vice mayors to guide development partners.“It is your responsibilities to make sure that our partners work in line with the District Development Plans (DDP) in a way that reflects national priorities,” Tumukunde said.She emphasised the need to create strong linkages between activities carried out by development partners in each district with local authorities to ensure successful and effective interventions.The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Juliene Munyaneza, talked of the importance of gender promotion in service provision.“It is high time we engaged in practical actions to build populations` capacity and knowledge about gender and its importance in national development,” she said.During the meeting, JADF representatives highlighted on the achievements and activities planed.

National

Get closer to communities, NGOs told