Clinton, Geldof partnership to boost education in Rwanda

LONDON - Former US President Bill Clinton, musician Bob Geldof and Tom Hunter, a Scottish philanthropist, have announced a 4.7 million-pound scheme to boost schools in Rwanda and Malawi. According to Claver Gatete, the Rwandan envoy to the UK, the fund was launched Thursday at the headquarters of Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) in London. Gatete stressed that Clinton, Geldof, Hunter and Douglas Alexander, the DFID’s Secretary of State praised President Kagame for his ‘visionary leadership.’ “They emphasized that there is no better place to implement such projects than in Rwanda given its transparency, accountability and hard working people. Thus they have opted to support Rwanda through the Government’s education strategic plan,” Gatete told The New Times. Two new teacher training facilities are to be built in Kavumu and Rukara. Geldof’s Band Aid and The Hunter Foundation will build and fit out the facilities, while Britain (through the DFID) and the Rwandan government will meet the remaining costs. The statement of intended collaboration seen by The New Times stresses that Rwanda’s education targets will only be achieved by an intensive scaling-up of efforts and support from all partners. It adds that in recognising this, Rwanda, the DFID, Band Aid/Hunter Foundation and the Clinton-Hunter Development Initiative (CHDI) agreed to collaborate to provide joint support to the implementation of Rwanda’s Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP 2008-2012) and its Long Term Strategic Financial Framework (2006-2015). The Rwandan Ambassador underscored the partnership’s significance since it opted to support Rwanda through the existing Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) which enhances government ownership and leadership. “We applaud this kind of partnership and hope it will be an example for other development partners,” he said, adding that it will greatly contribute to achieving universal primary education by 2015, one of the UN’s eight Millennium Development Goals and Rwanda’s long-term vision. Ends

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Clinton, Geldof partnership to boost education in Rwanda