Tag: Rwanda

Commonwealth leaders wrap up summit in Rwanda. The six-day meeting which drew more than 5,000 delegates from the 54 members witnessed the announcements of several commitments

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) wrapped up in Rwanda’s capital city of Kigali on Saturday.

The six-day meeting which drew more than 5,000 delegates from the 54 members witnessed the announcements of several commitments.

Held under the theme “Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming,” the heads of governments held discussions on several issues including recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic which devastated lives and economies, particularly for those members heavily reliant on tourism.

During the opening on Friday, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson handed over the baton as Commonwealth Chair-in-Office to Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame.

Kagame told a press conference on Saturday that as Chair-In-Office, he looked forward to working towards strengthening the partnerships within the commonwealth, for the benefits of all citizens.

The Commonwealth leaders also during their executive session re-appointed Patricia Scotland as the Secretary General of the Commonwealth for a further two years.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General can serve a maximum of two terms of four years each.

But Scotland, from the Caribbean, had her term last six years due the coronavirus pandemic. She was first elected in 2015 during CHOGM in Malta.

Britain’s Prince Charles, who represented Queen Elizabeth II, expressed his “personal sorrow” over the suffering brought about by slavery and its enduring impact.

More than 3 million people from Africa were enslaved during the historic Transatlantic Slave Trade by British merchant supported by the state, until the policy was abolished in 1807.

Speaking on the commonwealth countries’ relationship with the UK’s monarchy, Prince Charles said “each member’s constitutional arrangement, as republic or monarchy, is purely a matter for each member country to decide.”

The Commonwealth Secretariat signed an agreement with some of the world’s largest youth organizations on skills building for young people.

Togo and Gabon were admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations, the latest francophone countries to join the association, Kagame announced Saturday, bringing the number of countries in the bloc to 56 from eight at its inception in 1949.

Some of the highlights included Commonwealth Business Forum, co-organized by Rwanda and the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council.

The forum attracted over 1,000 business executives and provided a valuable opportunity for high-level dialogue on trade and investment between business and government leaders from across the Commonwealth and beyond.

The Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases Summit, a side event of the Commonwealth leaders were hosted by Kagame and the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership to End Malaria, a global platform for coordinated action towards a world free from malaria, and uniting to combat NTDs.

The leaders committed to work towards ending the epidemic of malaria by 2030, in line with global, regional and national commitments, according to the final communique issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

The heads underscored the importance of connecting, innovating, and transforming in order to facilitate a full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Expressing sorrow for the enormous loss of life and livelihood resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the leaders affirmed that the universal, timely, fair and equitable access to, and distribution of safe and affordable COVID-19 vaccines and diagnostics are key to global recovery.

The heads renewed their commitment to promoting good nutrition and fighting malnutrition, and determined to take bold, multisectoral coordinated action to reduce the incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

They also resolved to continue to take steps to ensure that by 2025, girls in the Commonwealth will have access to vaccination against human papilloma virus infection by age 13 in accordance with country contexts.

During the 7th Intergenerational Dialogue, a conversation between heads of government and five youth representatives from regions of the Commonwealth, Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister said it is important for the youth to be empowered to shape things such as education, employment, economic opportunities, and fighting climate change.

The leaders committed to increasing meaningful representation of youth in decision-making processes and mechanisms, including in conflict resolution and peace-building, the communique said.

The leaders discussed global conflicts and Ukraine-Russia conflict in particular, emphasizing that all countries must seek peaceful resolution to all disputes in accordance with international law.

The heads stressed the right to education, reaffirming the role of governments in offering 12 years of quality and inclusive education and ensuring children can catch up on lost learning.

On technology, the heads reaffirmed their commitment to equipping citizens, especially women, girls, young people, and others facing inequality, with the skills necessary to fully benefit from innovation and opportunities in cyberspace.

On climate, the heads of state renewed their commitment under the Paris Agreement to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Noting that most greenhouse gas emissions stem from energy production and use , they renewed their commitment to meet SDG 7 which aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

They also agreed to encourage public-private partnerships, in collaboration with multilateral and other entities, to create high-quality digital jobs for young people across the Commonwealth.

The leaders reiterated their commitment under SDG 11 to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, and resilient.

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To this end, the heads adopted the Declaration on Sustainable Urbanization.

The CHOGM is the Commonwealth’s highest consultative and policy-making gathering and it is customarily held every two years.

The Commonwealth leaders selected Rwanda as the host for the 26th summit at a meeting in London in 2018, but the meeting was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The next CHOGM will be held in Samoa in 2024, where a new secretary general will also be appointed.

The Overseas Chinese Association of Rwanda put beaming smiles on the faces of hundreds of children when they donated assorted gifts to the school for Children’s Day

 It is not every day that children get a chance to receive a gift of their choice. This, however, is what happened at Tanda primary and secondary school (GS Tanda) in Rwanda’s Northern Province, when the Chinese community recently visited the school. The Overseas Chinese Association of Rwanda put beaming smiles on the faces of hundreds of children when they donated assorted gifts to the school for Children’s Day which falls on Wednesday this year.

The young children took turns to tell their wishes, under the watchful eye of their headteacher, who looked relaxed and excited to listen to the pupils and encouraged them by applauding their choices. The donation included scholastic materials such as stationery, school bags, shoes, balls, cutlery, sanitary napkins, sanitizer, blankets and food supplies.

As the pupils expressed their wishes, 12-year-old Stella Ishimwe, said her wish was to get a ball. “If I were to choose a gift I would choose a ball,” said the Primary Six pupil who wakes up every day at 6 a.m. to walk to GS Tanda, where she dreams of becoming a medical doctor.

“Why would she need a ball?” some fellow pupils murmured. “Football is my favorite game, which I often play with schoolmates,” she said, dressed in a yellow dress, blue skirt, and plastic sandals locally named boda-boda.

The young girl’s innocent gift wish can be partly explained by the fact that her parents, who are farmers, cannot afford to buy her gifts, only living from hand to mouth.

With the Chinese donation, Ishimwe was able to get a gift of her choice. “A gift makes me feel special,” she said.

The second born in a family of four children, when Ishimwe wakes up she first goes to fetch water from a nearby well before heading to school. “I have three siblings. My father is a subsistence farmer, who grows mostly potatoes and bananas. Without a regular income, paying our school dues is a struggle,” she said.

Despite her poor background, Ishimwe is confident about completing her education. “I feel I will finish schooling despite the challenges. I try to balance all subjects and do the revision of my subject notes at home. I’m excited to be in school,” she said.

Her story is shared by hundreds of her schoolmates. Ishimwe’s classmate Alex Ndahiro, who is also 12 years old, said his favorite gift for Children’s Day is scholastic materials. He said he feels a lot of excitement when Children’s Day approaches.

He makes a similar trek to school as Ishimwe does and has high hopes of completing primary school education this year. “I feel a lot of pride being at school when there are those who are not at school against their wishes,” he said.

Ndahiro is lucky, his father is a medical worker and paying school dues is not a problem.

“My favorite subject is English. I believe that I will finish my studies up to university with determination,” said Nadahiro, the firstborn in a family of two.

Unlike Ishimwe, the first thing Ndahiro does when he wakes up is to revise his subject notes taken the previous day. His dream is to study computer science.

Innocent Gakuba, the school’s headteacher, was transferred to the school in April this year. He said the school makes Children’s Day a memorable event, where pupils craft poems and songs, expressing their wishes from parents and the school.

Parents are invited to such functions and the families of best-performing pupils are given certificates in recognition of their role in the upbringing of their children.

“On Children’s Day we organize writing and drawing competitions in which the winners are awarded prizes, including scholastic materials such as books, bags, pens and school uniforms,” said Gakuba.

Gakuba said gifts donated by the Chinese community would help learners in their academic and co-curricular activities. “Such gifts create friendship between the Chinese and our school and Rwandans in general,” he said.

Rwanda’s education is divided into six years of primary education, three years of lower-secondary education, and three years of advanced level education. Under the first Nine Years Basic Education (9YBE) program, education is offered free of charge in public schools and compulsory for all children.

GS Tanda has three levels, from nursery to ordinary level. It has 1,472 learners across all three levels with a majority of about 1,196 pupils at the primary level.

“There are several categories of parents who educate their children from this school but most are farmers. Some pay school dues in time but others delay and there are also many poor parents in vulnerable categories who don’t have money to pay,” he said.

School dropout is not a big problem for the school. In the village close to Lake Muhazi, a lot of learners drop out of school, according to the headteacher.

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“I tried to find out the root cause and realized it was due to domestic wrangles which affect children. You find a child caught in between and not getting support from both parents, leading to school dropout,” he said.

Gakuba, who has 14 years of experience in education, said it’s very frustrating to find a pupil dropping out of school. “As a parent and headteacher, I would wish children to acquire the education I got. I would like to train students to become the country’s future leaders.”

To keep children at school, Gakuba said teachers and parents must show children the importance of education. “I visit homes of pupils who have dropped out of school to engage them and their parents in order to bring them back to school. We do our best to fix the root causes,” he said.