Nyamagabe, July 17, 2023 - The HEINEKEN Africa Foundation (HAF) through Bralirwa Plc., in partnership with WaterAid Rwanda and the Ministry of Health launched WASH facilities to promote access to safe water and hygiene behavior change in the community of Kitabi sector in Nyamagabe district. The joint water access, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) project, which began in April 2020 during the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic to empower under-served communities with sustainable access to WASH facilities and lifesaving hygiene education, was launched in three phases, in the districts of Bugesera, Rubavu, Nyagatare, Rwamagana, Kigali and lastly in Nyamagabe district. During the final phase of the project, six new water points were constructed in Shaba and Uwingugu cells of Kitabi sector in Nyamagabe district which are expected to support over 3000 community members. Since the launch of the project, WaterAid Rwanda has been able to support over 408,800 people through installations of WASH facilities in different communities, schools, health centers as well as promotion of hygiene behavior change messaging through social, digital, and mass media campaigns. “Access to water and sanitation facilities has never been more critical than in the times we have all been through due to Covid pandemic. It is through concerted efforts that we are able to create long lasting impactful intervention as we forge a path towards a safer, healthier future for all said Jean Paul Mbarushima Head of Programmes, WaterAid Rwanda. Since 2007, the HEINEKEN Africa Foundation (HAF) has focused on improving the health of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa with a key focus on improving access to water access, sanitation, and hygiene. During the COVID 19 pandemic, HAF scaled up and accelerated its WASH activities and through partnership with WaterAid, donated €625,000 (Rwf 792,000,000) as part of its emergency response program to be implemented in three phases in Rwanda. “Is it through such ambitious collective actions that we can be able to sustainably improve lives and support the communities where we serve,” said Mr. Etienne Saada, Managing Director of Bralirwa PLC, a subsidiary of HEINEKEN Group. “Bralirwa is committed to collaborating with the government among other key development stakeholders as we raise the bar on our support on the SDGs through our corporate social responsibility” he added. Dr. Parfait Uwaliraye, Head of Planning, M&E and Health Financing Department in the Ministry of Health commended Bralirwa and WaterAid Rwanda for their invaluable contribution and collaboration with the Ministry to implement targeted WASH interventions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. “Promoting hygiene behaviour change and increasing access to WASH facilities greatly empowers communities to improve the quality of health care and more importantly bolsters the resilience of the health system at large” said Dr. Parfait.
