Ongoing field projects by HI, CBM and GTZ

Rwanda

Contribution by VSO.

Status of PRSP and disability: Rwanda is currently drafting its second PRSP - the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) - with an aim of finalisation by June 2007. The first PRSP had no specific reference to disability or how to include people with disabilities in the process. People with disabilities were not aware of any benefits of this strategy, nor of any direct impact on their community.

Implementing organisation: VSO Rwanda (Voluntary Service Overseas), through funding from DfID, aims to support the Disabled People's organisations (DPOs) to participate more actively in the process and to insert disability firmly into the EDPRS, so ensuring their involvement and inclusion in the implementation of the strategy over the coming years.

Contact: Natascha Hermann [natascha.hermann[at]vsoint.org] (Disability Advocacy Officer)

In the PRSP formulation phase, 11 Sector Working Groups (SWG) have been formed, bringing together central and local government institutions, development partners, civil society and the private sector. An additional sector working group has been formed to cover crosscutting issues, namely Gender, Social Inclusion (people with disabilities, orphans, refugees, the elderly and other vulnerable groups), Environment and HIV/ AIDS.

For the first time members from the Rwandan National Decade Steering Committee, the Union of the Blind, the Union of the Deaf, the Association of Physically Disabled and the Parent's Association of Children with Mental Disabilities participated in the EDPRS process. In an advocacy workshop held in October 2006 they identified the Education, Health and Social Protection SWG to prioritise. They took part in the EDPRS training for the logical framework approach. This enabled them to contribute to drafting the Education, Health and Social Protection sector strategies and to review and comment on the other sector strategies, such as Justice, Decentralisation and Security. Due to the representation and lobbying of DPO members particularly the Social Protection and Education sector included a number of targets for people with disabilities (e.g. special need education, access to school, vocational training and the Social Fund). Members of DPOs got also involved in preparing the Social Inclusion checklist to ensure that issues of vulnerable groups (including people with disabilities) are recognised as national policy commitments and require actions by different sectors. A number of sectors have already taken these issues into account whilst others realised the need to include them more effectively.

Currently the SWGs are in the process of revising and scaling down their sector strategies. The national drafting team will then draft the final EDPRS document which is supposed to be presented to Cabinet for approval in May 2007. Despite the success so far to include disability in the EDPRS, it remains unclear if disability issues can 'compete' with other issues and will be embraced by the final document. More lobbying is needed to keep the needs of people with disabilities on the agenda.