The Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) in conjunction with One UN Rwanda has donated Rwf300 million to civil society organisations in Rwanda. The grant, handed over on Thursday at the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) offices in Kigali, will benefit 12 Rwandan civil society organisations, equally distributed. The funds will be allocated to different activities, including extension services in agriculture and livestock, human rights and gender equality, family cohesion and child abuse fight, civic and voters campaigns, social protection and public health among others. According to the Chief Executive of RGB, Prof. Anastase Shyaka, in June they launched the second phase of selecting the best project for civil society and close to 80 organisations passed the bar with 75 per cent and above in terms of score. He said giving grants to civil society started with about 27 organisatons and 15 more organisations have since been added. He said the funds will be allocated to projects and programmes which are relevant to the development of the country. One UN Rwanda representative Fode Ndiaye said the funding is meant to facilitate civil society organisations make impactful interventions. “We strongly believe that by helping the civil society in Rwanda they will play their role as key development partners,” said Ndiaye. Epimac Mbonyubwami, a representative from Caritas Rwanda Nyundo in Rubavu District, said, with the funds, they hoped to train 160 families on rainwater harvesting to prevent erosion. Deborah Mukasekuru, a representative from ANSP+, a gender and rights organisation, said the grant will help them continue with their programmme on training HIV-positive individuals of proper feeding and self-help projects. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
