Water Supply and Sanitation in Rwanda - External Cooperation

External Cooperation

Donors in the Rwandan rural water sector follow a unified implementation framework which is based on the government’s national strategy and program and medium-term expenditure framework. According to the Rwandan Development Gateway, in 2005 Rwanda’s "achievements in establishing an aid coordination, harmonization, and alignment framework are being recognized as international best-practice." This is significant progress compared to the observation in the government's 2002 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, which had observed "a piecemeal and uncoordinated approach" among donors in the sector and had called for a sector-wide approach.

The World Bank supported rural water supply and sanitation through a series of projects, including the US$ 72.3 million water supply 02 project (1987–1998) and the US$ 20 million Rural Water and Sanitation Project (2000–2007). The latter has provided 352,000 people with access to improved water services by December 2006. At the same time more than 12 percent of the 830 water-piped systems existing in the country were privately managed. The World Bank rated the project highly satisfactory in its 2008 completion report.

In 2005 the European Union (EU) signed a contract with the Rwandan government for a major water project in the Bugesera Region (Kigali rural) worth 16 billion Rwandan francs (Euro 23.24 million). The water project will benefit the four districts of Kanzenze, Gashora, Bicumbi and Kanombe in the eastern part of Kigali city.

The African Development Bank has recently committed US$12 million to rural water supply and sanitation. The British and Belgian governments also support water supply and sanitation projects in Rwanda.

The Government of the Netherlands has recently committed US$22 million for a Water for Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project to be implemented by UNICEF. The aim of the project is to increase the provision of water services and of sanitation facilities as well as to spread good hygiene practices. The project is implemented by four districts in the Northern Province with the support of the Ministry of Infrastructure. An evaluation of a previous US$5 million UNICEF project for Water and Environmental Sanitation (WES) implemented from 1997 to 2000 concluded that its goals had been too ambitious and its hygiene and environmental sanitation component yielded little impact. However, in the 66 municipalities were the project intervened it increased access to water supply and succeeded in strengthening community capacity for managing water systems.