NGO to sink Rwf35b in child protection

Plan International, a global child rights organisation, is set to inject Euro42.5 million (about Rwf35 billion) in the country over the next five years to help promote the rights of children.

Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Plan International, a global child rights organisation, is set to inject Euro42.5 million (about Rwf35 billion) in the country over the next five years to help promote the rights of children.Tjipke Bergsma, Plan International’s deputy chief executive, said his organisation was committed to working with Rwanda to defend the rights of children and eliminate child poverty.Bergsma, who was on an official visit in the country last week, said  his organisation has over the past five years spent nearly Euro18 million (about Rwf15b) on its development projects in Rwanda.Alice Rwema Iribagiza, Plan Rwanda’s communication officer, said the fund will be used to support vulnerable families in the City of Kigali as well as Gatsibo, Bugesera, Nyaruguru and Nyamagabe districts.The organisation’s intervention over the next five years, she said, will focus on  increasing the proportion of young men and women with access to community-based financial services and capable of diversifying their incomes and livelihoods opportunities.School dropout syndrome will also be a focus, with the target to reduce it by at least 3 per cent, Rwema said.During his three-day visit in Rwanda, which ended last weekend, Bergsma visited several projects and met with officials to discuss the way forward.