The 2015 Rwanda Civil Society Development Barometer, indicates that Civil Society Organisations’ (CSO) overall engagement in government programmes stands at 61.7 per cent. 

The study findings presented in Kigali this week during a policy dialogue meeting on civil society indicate a significant progress of citizen participation as well as CSOs in government operations.

"Like in the 2012 edition, collective community action scores highest in the section of citizen participation and inclusiveness, largely thanks to Umuganda (monthly communal work) with over 80 per cent of citizens indicating participation,” reads the report in part.

"There is low level of participation in non-partisan political action, and charitable activities are still low. Attending a demonstration and writing a letter to a newspaper seem to be rare”.

The survey indicates that a significant progress has been made in the diversity of civil societies’ leadership, with women constituting about 50 per cent of board memberships, Executive Committees, and Supervisory Boards but most CSO members are still in urban areas.

According to Edouard Munyamaliza, the spokesperson of the Civil Society Platform, the new findings represent a positive trend in citizen participation and CSO inclusiveness compared to the 2012 report despite using a different monitoring framework.

Munyamaliza said that the 2015 barometer used an updated set of logic based on identified gaps and opportunities for improvement in Civil Society development, to provide their findings based on citizen participation and effectiveness.

The New Times understands that the report findings are based on perceptions from citizens, mainly CSO members or those who have a direct experience with a Civil Society Organisation and CSO representatives.

CSOs decry insufficient funding

Rwanda Civil society platform has said that insufficient funding remains a hindrance to successfully execute their obligations

"Civil society sector does not have enough funding from both the international donors and the government itself.

This results into low levels of capacity among other issues, hence making us not achieve our targets,” said Munyamaliza.

Prof. Anastase Shyaka, the Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), acknowledged that government funding to CSOs was still low due to insufficient overall budget.

"However, where there is good will, everything is possible. The government cannot find enough money to finance each and every civil society organisation but we can always find ways of supporting umbrella organisations.

We encourage these organisations to be independent and should privately fundraise for financial resources too,” said Shyaka.

He noted that the government offered an annual financial support of about USD1 million, which was shared—this year—among 26 CSOs which presented competitive development projects.

Available figures show that there are about 1500 CSOs formally registered. 19 others will be registered next year, according to Shyaka.

Lamin Manneh, the UN Resident Coordinator, noted that more civil society organisations being set up in Rwanda was sign of creativity and willingness to contribute to the overall development of the country.

However, he noted that this trend raises questions of sustainability and effectiveness.

"Knowing your specific added value is a pre-requisite to stay relevant….I would also like to be honest with all of you. We are very pleased to have concretely supported several of your organisations through the provision of grants. It is very encouraging to witness many concrete results in such a short time span.

"At the same time, we do not have the resources to satisfy all the needs of your organizations. That is a fact of life. But it is my sincere hope that our partnership on which we are embarking together will be broader and more structural than the financial dimension alone,” said Manneh.

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