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Enabel trains Forestry sector staff on a software for a better management of Rwanda’s forests
Denise NSANGA | 07/12/2020
A one-week training on a user-friendly and customized District Forest Management Plan (DFMP) database and the Forest Monitoring and Evaluation Systems (FMES) software was conducted from 30 November to 04 December 2020 for Rwanda Forestry Authority (RFA) staff as well as District Forest and Natural Resources Officers (DFOs) from Enabel’s Forestry Management and Biomass Energy support programme (FMBE). This training aimed to ensure harmonization and simplification of the tools used in monitoring and evaluation of the forestry sector. The 17 trained staff will use the sofware for the design, review and monitoring of public and private forests management according to the requirements of the National Forestry Policy and forest Sector Strategic Plan. The software will allow: (1) to demarcate on field all public and private forests using GPS/Tablet, and register them with all relevant information (land conflict, current forest status and management), (2) to design/update/monitor the management plan of these registered forests.
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Enabel in Rwanda takes part to the 16 Days of Activism to end Gender Based Violence
Denise NSANGA | 04/12/2020
Enabel is actively working to contribute to end Gender-Based Violence in seven districts of Rwanda through "Barame" health project focusing on maternal, neonatal, child, adolescent, sexual and reproductive health. The objective is to offer quality services and management to victims of GBV at the right place and at the right time. To achieve this, the project is training medical staff, renovating "Isange" One Stop Centers (IOSC) and providing relevant medical equipment. So far, 43 staff of IOSCs and 81 other staff from hospitals including medical doctors, nurses, midwives, social workers and psychologists have been trained on gender-based violence case management. In addition, 6 IOSCs have been renovated and medical equipment (such as ultrasounds) has been provided. Moreover, to offer services closer to the population, the project works on the extension of GBV services at health center level, as recommended by the 4th Health Sector Strategic Plan. Up to now, 235 staff of health centers have been trained on GBV case management, including community and environmental health officers, nurses, social workers and mental health professional.
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40,000 solar home systems to light up Rwanda’s rural off-grid zone
Denise NSANGA | 16/11/2020
Rwanda Development Bank (BRD), in partnership with Enabel - Private sector participation in the generation of electricity from renewable sources (PSPE) project and other partners, is conducting a series of training of agents provided by Off-grid Solar Companies (OSCs) and Savings and Credits Cooperatives (SACCOs). The training aims at equiping agents of OSCs and SACCOs with skills and marketing technics enabling them to make 40,000 Solar Home Systems installations for households situated in off-grid zone of Rwanda. This program will boost the pace of reaching the target of Universal Access of Electricity by 2024. PSPE is a Belgium funded project implemented by Enabel in partnership with the Development Bank of Rwanda; it aims at offering Capacity Building and Technical Assistance to different actors of Rwanda’s Renewable Energy Fund.
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30 staff members trained on Health Management Information System in Rwanda
Denise NSANGA | 10/11/2020
From 3 to 6th November 2020, Maternal, Child and Community Health (MCCH) Division staff from Rwanda Biomedica Center (RBC) and Enabel’s Health project “Barame” staff have been trained on data analysis and use linked to the Rwanda's Health Management Information System (HMIS). Within the four day training, these Health staff improved their competences regarding HMIS data collection tool (Canevas) and data quality as well as MCCH indicators and data analysis tool. According to data quality assessment, there seemed to be a gap in terms of data quality, especially with regards to accuracy and reliability. Thanks to this workshop, better analysis and use of data can now be produced at central level for evidence-based decision-making; and feedback about the quality of the data collected at district operational (health facility and community) can be transmitted, hence improve the Rwandan health system.
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GBV service providers to improve quality service at health centre level - Rwanda
Denise NSANGA | 30/10/2020
A 5-day training of 33 Gender Based Violence service providers was concluded on 30th October 2020 in Karongi District, Western Province. With Enabel’s technical and financial assistance, via Barame Health project, in partnership with Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), staff from 22 Health centers participated in this training, including 28 nurses and 5 community and environment health officers. Trainees acquired more insights in GBV case screening and management while improving on referral system to timely provide comprehensive and adequate services to GBV victims.The training was organised with regards to reinforce the functioning of GBV services at health center level, a strategy to improve on service accessibility at decentralized level.
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Launch of an agriculture programme to increase farmers’ revenues and jobs creation in Rwanda
Denise NSANGA | 29/10/2020
Kigali, 29 October 2020 – On the occasion of the celebration of the International World Food Day, Enabel’s Agriculture intervention (PRISM) in Rwanda was launched by Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI). Agriculture is one of the priority sectors of the Belgo-Rwandan portfolio 2019-2020, with a Belgian financial contribution of 30 million Euros . The programme aspires to contribute to jobs creation, private sector development and food security and is aligned with the Rwandan Strategic Plan for the Transformation of Agriculture phase 4 (PSTA-4), 2018-2024, which envisages a transformation of agriculture from a subsistence sector to a knowledge-based value creating sector that contributes to the national economy and ensures food and nutrition security. This Agriculture programme works around 2 general objectives: the revenue of farmers increases through quality proximity extension services, improved access to inputs and through the introduction of new technologies while the Private Sector creates more added value through more efficient markets, improved storage transformation and agro-processing. Speaking at the event, Jean-Michel Swalens, Head of the Belgian Development Cooperation and Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Belgium in Rwanda said, ‘if we put our efforts together, we shall end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition by 2030. This is one of the priorities of the Belgo-Rwandan Cooperation 2019-2024.’ PRISM will develop inclusive and sustainable Feed, Pig and Poultry Value Chains in which all actors run a profitable business, as well as attracting private investment to develop a modern industrialized value chain to produce high quality meat products and eggs to substitute import as well as to export.
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Pig and poultry farmers to acquire more competences on value chains - Rwanda
Denise NSANGA | 30/09/2020
An online training was organized by Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) in collaboration with Enabel, for Livestock Farmer Field School Master Trainers on poultry (broilers, layers, dual purpose) and pig value chains with eventual capacity building of commercial small & large farmers on how to run farm business as an enterprise. The training is being delivered by Vetworks, a Belgian based consulting firm, which will share with trainees not only relevant innovations and experience but also designing, organizing and conducting Livestock Farmer Field School (L-FFS) training. The 10-day session will provide 14 trainees from RAB and the Private Sector operators with competences to train other 100 L-FFS facilitators on poultry and pig production techniques and entrepreneurship in 10 selected districts of project intervention.
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In Rwanda, Belgium provides the Ministry of Health with 40 ambulances to support health sector
Denise NSANGA | 29/09/2020
The Kingdom of Belgium, on September 24, 2020 handed over 40 ambulances to the Ministry of Health of Rwanda to boost access to health services. The forty ambulances worth around Rwf2 billion will be dispatched in district hospitals throughout the country and aim to strengthen the health system and reach Rwanda’s target of 1 ambulance per 40.000 inhabitants by 2024, for better service delivery. Speaking at the event, Ambassador of Belgium to Rwanda Benoit Ryelandt said that the donation of ambulances was planned as part of the current Belgo-Rwandan cooperation in the health sector. “The Health sector is one of the components of the current 5-year Belgo-Rwandan cooperation 2019-2024. The 40 ambulances were planned to be delivered throughout the project but with COVID19 pandemic, it is even more useful to deliver all the ambulances now and at the same time to help contain the spread of the virus as well as other contagious diseases” said HE Benoit Ryelandt, Ambassador of Belgium in Rwanda. The Minister of Health, Dr. Daniel NGAMIJE said that the new ambulances will contribute to improve access to health care and service delivery to reduce deaths and reach the universal health coverage. He said: “The support of 40 ambulances to our health sector contributes to the attainment of the Government of the Rwanda National Strategy in the context of Epidemics response such as ebola virus desease and COVID19 pandemics to mention but a few.” The health sector is focusing on Maternal and Child Health, Sexual and Reproductive Health, including Family Planning, and Household access to health care. It covers 40% of the total envelope, i.e 45 million Euros.
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Rehabilitated forests handed over to local cooperatives - Rwanda
Denise NSANGA | 03/09/2020
Forests in Rwanda cover 30% of land use. This is composed of 11.9 % (translated into 283 128 ha) of natural forests and 18.1 % (translated into 714 102 ha) of planted public and private forests. According to 2015 National Forest Inventory report, around 68% of non-protected tree plantation of Rwanda are owned by privates and many are poorly managed and over exploited (stem cut every 2-3 years in average) with a very low standing stock (17 m3/ha vs a standard of around 60-80 m3/ha as stipulated in the National Forest Inventory of 2015) and a productivity 2-3 times less than the ideal average standard of 12m3/ha/year. The lack of organisation of these forest growers working each individually on their very small size parcel has been limiting their performance and their joint knowledge and investment sharing opportunities. In consequence, these private forests were only producing around 0,8 Million of m3/year, while they should provide at least 2M m3 per year. This is why the support of these private forest owners is an essential pillar for the development of the forestry sector and sustain landscape restoration and watershed management.880 Ha of degraded private woodlots have been rehabilitated through the Private Forest Management Units (PFMUs) approach, and handed over to their owners - grouped in 18 cooperatives for sustainable management - in the four districts of intervention: Rwamagana in Eastern Province, Gakenke, Rulindo and Gicumbi in Northern Province. The project has been jointly implemented by Enabel and the Ministry of Environment through Rwanda Forestry Authority, to implement the Rwanda National Forestry Policy, 2018-2023.
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Enabel, central authorities and local community identify areas of intervention in infrastructure - Rwanda
Denise NSANGA | 28/08/2020
The Urbanisation sector of the current Belgo-Rwandan cooperation is focusing on boosting infrastructure in secondary cities. Three districts namely Rubavu, Musanze and Rwamagana, in Western, Northern and Eastern provinces respectively were targeted for this 28 million Euros project dubbed Urban Economic Development initiative (UEDi). To scale up the infrastructure, a workshop and urban walk is organized in each district of intervention and brings together Enabel, Local Administrative Entities Development Agency (LODA), District authorities, the private sector and other partners for the identification and prioritization of quick-wins projects as well as role sharing among the stakeholders. “With the Urban Walk, we want to understand, together with all the stakeholders, the potentialities of the sites presented by the district and to understand how to work on their development. We want to participate in the construction process of a sustainable vibrant city” Mattias Piani, Intervention Manager, Urbanisation intervention In Rwamagana District, a road connecting the handcraft centre to the city centre of Rwamagana is being built under this project which is operating since January 2020. “We will benefit from this project as it will enable us creating more jobs from the carpentry workshop; having a new market which will boost our businesses; moreover, citizens will be getting jobs from roads construction” Celestin Munyaneza, Private Sector representative in Rwamagana district In Musanze District, construction of the new handcraft centre has recently started and is expected to finish mid-2021. In the city of Rubavu, the construction of interconnecting roads around its handcraft centre is starting soon.
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A new strategy is under development at REG to ensure gender mainstreaming in the energy sector
Ellen VAN HIMBERGEN | 18/06/2018
From the 13th of 14th of June, elected members of the gender advisory committee in Rwanda Energy Group are in a workshop to establish a gender mainstreaming program and set timeframes and targets for a 3 years action plan. This gender mainstreaming program was first launched On March 23 2018 during the workshop to celebrate the International Women’s Day at Rwanda Energy Group under the theme « Empowering REG Women to Energize Rwanda », and is supported by Enabel’s Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building project in the Energy Sector (CDEU). The Energy sector in Rwanda still has a small number of staff women. This is due to the country’s historical and cultural background which discouraged women involvement in the technical works. Despite the current political will in Rwanda and Government efforts to promote gender balance in all sectors, the energy sector still has a very low rate. As of today, REG women make up approximately 18% of the total staff.In a bid to be able to reach the Rwandan Government targets of 30% women representation at all levels, Rwanda Energy Group has put in place a special committee in charge of establishing the program to ensure the gender mainstreaming in this sector. Among the strategic objectives of this program include the representation of women at all levels of REG management, equal opportunities to promotions, equal access to career development programs as well as ensuring a working environment that is free from any sexual harassment. “We believe that having women in the organization and especially in the management will contribute a lot to the success of our company” said the CEO of REG during the launching ceremony of the strategy.
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Integration of mental health care in primary health care to increase accessibility in Rwanda
Ellen VAN HIMBERGEN | 07/05/2018
Mental health, a serious health challenge in the worldMental health is one of the most serious health challenges in the world. Globally, 700 million people are estimated to suffer from mental and behavioural disorders and one out of four people will develop one or more of these disorders during their lifetime. Three out of four people with mental health problems live in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) and yet up to 90% of people living with mental illness in these countries do not receive mental health services. One of the biggest reasons behind this “treatment gap” is underinvestment. Low-income countries spend less than 1% of their health budgets on mental health, while less than 1% of global development funding for health is spent on mental health. In spite of the chronic and long-term nature of some mental disorders, with the proper treatment, people suffering from mental disorders can live productive lives and be a vital part of their communities. Mental disorders represent a huge cost to health care systems and to the global economy, and affect some of the world’s most vulnerable people, through stigma and lack understanding. In 2015 the world took a huge step forward by including mental health in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which fixed the global development agenda for the next three decades.Mental health, priority area of intervention in RwandaIn Rwanda, the available data show that the country faces an exceptionally large burden of mental disorders and much of the country’s burden of mental disorders can be linked to the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994. Furthermore certain mental disorders such depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are described with proportions beyond international averages. One out of four people suffers from PTSD and prevalence of depression is 15.5 to 21% depending of the study. Drug abuse, particularly among young people, is a new mental health challenge in Rwanda and prevalence of epilepsy is high (5%), making mental health a serious public health problem in the country. Mental health is clearly identified within the overall Health Sector Policy as a priority area of intervention. This policy recommends the integration of mental health services into all national health system structures, including at the community level. On the contrary to many developing countries, Rwanda is on the forefront in terms of developing a sustained and sustainable national response to the burden of disease caused by psychological and neurological disorders, as well as substance abuse. Mental health in Belgium Cooperation context in RwandaThe Belgian Cooperation supports the development of mental health services in Rwanda over more than a decade and is the only bilateral donor working on this thematic. The Mental Health intervention provides technical and financial support to decentralize mental health care into general care and integrate mental health care into primary health care. This support is mainly through capacity building, equipment, mentorship & supervision and training of health professionals to deal with mental disorders including substance abuse related issues. This intervention supports also psychological interventions during the Genocide commemoration period. In order to ensure the success and quality of the integration of mental health care, the intervention supports the Mental Health Division of Rwanda Biomedical Center / Ministry of Health as well as the national mental health reference structures.Key progress in the decentralisation and integration of mental health careThe officially-approved Mental Health Policy, (introduced in 1995 and reviewed in 2011) has initiated a process of decentralization and integration of mental health care as well as the creation of referral services. At the central level, there is the Mental Health Division within the Rwandan Biomedical Center in the Ministry of Health. Its main mission is to implement the Mental Health Policy through a strategic plan under the guidance of the Health Sector Strategic Plan. Mental health is now integrated into the package of care of health centers, district hospitals, provincial hospitals and referral hospitals. Obviously, mental health services and resources were shifted from the psychiatric hospital to the community health facilities: District Hospitals (DH) and Health Centers (HC).Mental health services are effectively decentralised. Each of the country's DH & PH (43), through the Mental Health Unit, delivers a comprehensive mental health care package according to the national standards. Within this framework, each mental health unit provides inpatient and outpatient mental health care, including analysis and diagnosis, treatment and follow-up, rehabilitative measures, counselling and interaction with families. If necessary, the patient will be referred to mental health referral settings. Mental health units are staffed by a permanent team comprising one or two psychiatric nurses and one psychologist providing a broad range of mental health services under the supervision of a physician trained in mental health care. There are 66 psychiatric nurses and 41 psychologists working in mental health units in district hospitals and at least one GP gets hands-on training. Each mental health team receives on-site formative supervision and participates in regular case review sessions led by a mental health team from the national referral structures. General Nurses working in health centres and CHWs were trained to ensure an integrated mental health care component in health centres and at community level. CHWs serve as an important link between the community and health providers. In this context 766 General Nurses in Health Centers, more than 15000 CHWs and important number of volunteers (local NGOs & association) were trained annually. A stepped-care approach is provided: from health centres in rural areas, to district hospitals and then mental health referral settings in Kigali. Consequently, patients are treated as near as possible to their home and then receive hospital treatment only after community treatment has failed. A specific list of essential psychotropic medicines has been established for each level of the health system. These psychotropic medicines are part of the national list of essential medicines. Mental health care is integrated into the community-based health insurance (CBHI) scheme (Mutuelles de santé), which allows mentally ill people, similar to other patients, to pay at most a 10% co-payment for psychotropic medicines and services. There is no co-payment for the lowest incomes. By decentralizing mental health services and integrating mental health care into CBHI, the accessibility was increased, and the number of transfers to mental health referral structures was reduced. Data from the national health management information system (HMIS) shows that in 2016, all mental health units at DHs level received 26.060 new mental health cases and performed 201.902 outpatient consultations and 3.236 hospitalizations, with only 779 transfers to mental health referral structures. Rwanda still lacks staff with an educational background in psychiatry. Up to 2017 there were only 7 psychiatrists in the health system. In 2013, the University of Rwanda launched a third-cycle specialization in psychiatry to increase the pool of trained psychiatrists in the country. Specialists can ensure quality of care and expand health care provision. The first 3 psychiatrists were graduated in August 2017 and 10 students are enrolled within the program in collaboration with Belgium and Switzerland universities. In the area of prevention of drug abuse, regular awareness campaigns are conducted targeting young people. A specialized structure for the treatment of drug-related disorders has just been set up. Integrating mental health care into Primary Health Care (PHC) is a great opportunity to intervene early and prevent chronicity. It is also an opportunity to involve communities and increase accessibility to mental health care which can be provided close to the community.
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Empowering Women to Energize Rwanda
Ellen VAN HIMBERGEN | 07/05/2018
On March 23, the launching of the Rwanda Energy Group’s (REG) Gender Mainstreaming Program took place through the important workshop « Empowering REG Women to Energize Rwanda ». All women of REG, nationwide and from all different levels within the organization, have been invited to the workshop to meet each other, discuss gender issues in REG, give voice to their ideas and suggestions on what issues they face and what actions they recommend to accomplish change. The launching of the REG Gender Mainstreaming Program is the first important step in the journey towards advancing gender equality and equity in REG – to ensuring women’s full participation in the success of REG and the development of Rwanda. Due to historical, cultural, social and educational reasons, REG, just as many other organizations in the energy sector, have low participant rates of women on their staff. With this program, REG aims not only to develop the capability of present men and women, but also to actively attract and recruit more women into the organization at all levels and in all categories of jobs. Today, REG women make up approximately 18% of the total staff and very few women are in decision making roles. As a first goal, REG hopes to reach the Government of Rwanda’s target and have 30% women in all levels in the organization in the next three years. After this workshop, the next step is a first meeting with the REG’s gender focal points and the Advisory Committee Members elected during the workshop to review the proceedings of the meeting and to decide on the way forward, to then prepare the presentation to the senior management of REG. Reactions of participants: “This is the first time for me to meet colleagues from other provinces in Rwanda. We don’t know each other, but still we find out we face the same challenges.” “I really encourage the development of a policy on gender equality and equity. I hope it will also include a strategy of retaining women in the organization, which will better enable the appointment of women in management positions aswell.” Enabel in Rwanda funds two interventions in partnership with REG: the three Belgian contributions to the Electricity Access Roll-Out Programme (BE-EARP) and Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Development (CDEU). At Enabel we recognize the importance of developing and harnessing the capability of all people to increase the performance not just of organizations, but also as a key contributor to the development of the country. That is why at Enabel we include Gender as a component in all interventions.
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Kigali hospital network
Ellen VAN HIMBERGEN | 07/05/2018
The Ubuzima Burambye (Long Healthy Life) Program is supported by Enabel and implemented under management of Rwanda's Ministry of Health (MoH) in partnership with Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) and the City of Kigali (CoK). This program officially started in July 2015 and its implementation phase is scheduled to last 48 months. The general objective of this intervention is to "strengthen the quality of primary health care and health services in Rwanda". To properly manage the complexity of health issues in the City of Kigali (CoK), intensified by the rapid population growth with fast urbanization, several strategies have been proposed. One of them, supported by UBUZIMA BURAMBYE (UB), is related to the development of a hospital network for the CoK in order to produce efficient, organized, rationalized and integrated health offer in an urban context. Integration of resources (human, logistics, etc.), better articulation between all actors, sharing harmonized health information, improving reference system, merging technically complex services can considerably improve health services efficacy, continuity of care, and reduce the costs and fragmentation with better efficiency. In line with the national health policy, Kigali Hospital Network is mandated to “Promote complimentary between hospitals in their common production of qualitative, continuous and accessible and integrated healthcare to face the rapid evolution of the needs of the citizens in the city of Kigali who are increasing rapidly and face profound demographic and epidemiologic changes” The development of the network concerns 11 Hospitals in CoK: 3 National referral hospitals, 3 public District Hospitals and 4 Private hospitals. The main strategic interventions that are currently supported by UB include: Optimization of specialized and quality services delivery through regular exchange of experience/expertise, skills and information. In 2018, this includes 16 modules elaborated by specialists to be shared at district hospital level for medical staff; Define the vision, strategies, mechanisms and the resources needed towards a sustainable Hospital Information Network program by digitalization. The draft strategy hereto is to be validated; Improve the information sharing between hospitals in the city of Kigali through a web-based dashboard for the 11 health facilities. At this moment, the development of a plan to share real time information to improve the referral system (availability of beds, ambulance, specific medical specialities, specific diagnostic equipment, etc.) is ongoing;Develop a tele-medicine system initially directed to tele diagnostic: this year, a "Picture Archiving and Communication System" (PACS) will be procured. In a second phase, the set-up of a harmonized electronic patient file between network member facilities to keep a continuum of care and consistency in service delivery will be developed.
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Nyarugenge District hospital: ceremony of first stone laying
Ellen VAN HIMBERGEN | 07/05/2018
On the 9th February 2018, the first stone of the Nyarugenge District Hospital was laid by Hon. Minister of Health, Dr. Diane Gashumba and by His Excellence Belgian Ambassador Benoit Ryelandt with the presence of The Mayor of Kigali and the Mayor of Nyarugenge. In relation with the decentralization policy, the Nyarugenge District Hospital is the largest infrastructure project to be managed by the district, funded by the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of Rwanda. The project is co-managed by Enabel’s Ubuzima Burambye program and benefits from technical support from Rwanda Biomedical Center and the Ministry of Health. The hospital responds to a high demand for more than 300,000 Nyarugenge residents. It is expected to become a model of excellence and innovation in terms of organization, patient flowing, high standards of care, healthy working conditions, respect for environment, sound waste management, energy saving, isolation and network connection. The construction will take place in 2 phases: the first one will provide a fully equipped and functional 120-bed hospital by July 2019, including outpatient, inpatient, emergency and supportive services and utility buildings. The phase 2 will increase the capacity up to 300 beds to better cover needs of district population.
