Two NGos - Hand in Hand for Development (HIHD) and Community Road Empowerment (CORE) – on Thursday signed grant agreements with the Japan Embassy which gave them funds to undertake different activities geared at uplifting livelihoods for Rwanda’s rural communities. The first organisation was given funding to construct water and sanitation facilities while the other one will use the funding to improve feeder roads in rural areas. The signing ceremony took place at the Japanese Embassy in Kigali. H.E Masahiro IMAI, Ambassador of Japan to Rwanda after signing the grant contract with Yuko Yokomizo, Project Coordinator for community Road Empowerment (CORE) On behalf of HIHD, the grant contract was signed by Isaac Hangimana Mugabe, the organisation’s legal representative. The grant, which was provided under the framework of Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project (GGP/Kusanone) is worth $89,107 and will help HIHD run a construction project of water and sanitation facilities such as micro-flush toilets, bio-sand water filters and rainwater harvesting tanks for about 580 people living in Kanembwe and Bihungwe villages in Rubavu District. Under GGP, the Government of Japan offers grants to NGOs, educational and health institutions and local authorities for development projects at the community level. The programme has been running in Rwanda for more than 20 years. Mugabe said that their project will run for a year and will reach every family in the two villages, adding that the toilets that will be built under the project will have a system to separate wastes so that they can later be used as manure to boost their farming output, thereby reducing malnutrition and stunting. Meanwhile, Yuko Yokomizo, the Project Coordinator for CORE signed the grant contract on behalf of the organisation. Their project aims at empowering the rural population in the five districts of Rubavu, Musanze, Burera, Nyabihu and Gicumbi to acquire road maintenance skills. For this project, the Government of Japan will provide $334,841. Yokomizo said that a large portion of the grant will be used in purchasing materials for road maintenance, adding that since many rural roads are damaged by rain or topography, their NGO is teaching people how to fix them effectively and more durable to keep them in good condition. According to Masahiro Imai, the Japanese Ambassador to Rwanda, different levels of government institutions are also involved in the project, and with their cooperation, the project participants will be equipped with new techniques and are expected to contribute to the alleviation of poverty in rural areas through improvement of road accessibility. He added; “As we will celebrate 60 years anniversary of the friendship between Japan and Rwanda this year, we are more determined to continue our efforts to support and work with the people at grassroots level in collaboration with the Government of Rwanda as well as NGOs.”
