The National Dialogue Council is a forum established by the Constitution of Rwanda
It is said that two heads is better than one and for the last thirteen years, Rwanda has managed to put together many heads in the bid to discuss matters that affect the Rwandan society under the National Dialogue Council – Umushyikirano concept.
Umushyikirano – is normally held at the end of the year. The annual event brings together government officials, representatives of local councils and civil society, and a selected number of Rwandans from all walks of life, including those living abroad.
The Council is a forum established by the Constitution (article 168). It brings together the President of the Republic and representatives of local administrative councils elected by their peers who debate crosscutting issues on a national level.
During this open debate, Rwandans all over the nation are very attentive on radio, TV and social media, to know and participate in the debate. The meeting, in most cases chaired by the president-Paul Kagame, does not only discuss key development issues at the national level, but also give chance to common Rwandans to speak their mind.
Through this dialogue crucial decisions have been made over the years and this has led to the current glimpse towards sustainable development, of which Rwanda envisions by the year 2020, through the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) papers.
“The building of our nation must be based on institutions rather than individuals if we are to make it sustainable” President Kagame said in 2010,
“The development and growth of our nation should come first; the well-being of Rwandans should be the focus of our dialogue.” President Kagame – Umushyikirano 2012.
Brief overview of the previous dialogues
The 1st National Dialogue Council was a one day event and was attended by members of the local and central government, parliament as well as civil society. During the event, the following topics were discussed: The role of local government in development, the status of unity and reconciliation in the context of a multiparty political system, and the role of leadership in facilitating democratic elections Rwanda’s vision for sustainability.
The 2nd National Dialogue Council focused on good governance and how leaders across government could more effectively instil a culture of accountability and performance. Genocide ideology prevention was also discussed.
The 3rd National Dialogue Council focused and discussed promoting knowledge based decision making using clear social and economic indicators, strengthening government reforms.
The 4th National Dialogue Council tabled the role of the leaders’ accountability in regards to the Gacaca process, while the 5th National Dialogue Council was held under the theme “Enhance the national economy even further, as a springboard to address other problems facing the country”.
The 6th National Dialogue Council made resolutions that led to achievements such as: A National Consultative Council to fight corruption was established and 90,000 people participated in the civic education program known as Itorero ry’Igihugu following greater promotion of the program.
There was also promotion of a culture of saving and debt reduction led to the creation of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) in all 416 sectors across the country with 675,772 members being registered in total, awareness raising campaigns to fight genocide ideology and build a common understanding of family planning, grouped settlements, land consolidation and fighting soil erosion.
The 7th National Dialogue Council was held under the theme “Let us do more valuable and sustainable work” and it handled ways of achieving the Vision 2020 programme and the Millennium Development Goals, streamlining trading activities and customer care, outdated customs hampering development, participation of Rwandans living abroad in the country’s development, achievements in reconciliation and unity over the past 15 years and achievements by the National Service of Gacaca Courts.
The 8th National Dialogue Council was held under the theme “Our responsibility is delivering quality service”. The following issues were discussed: Strategies and orientation of the third phase of decentralization (2011-2015), social cohesion and reconciliation barometer, the Second Consultative Meeting on the Fight Against Genocide, Nine Years of Basic Education (9YBE), savings and small and medium scale enterprises, housing, reforestation irrigation and land consolidation, community based health insurance scheme (Mutuelle de Sante), nutrition, hygiene and sanitation and HIV/AIDS.
The 9th National Dialogue Council was held under the theme “Strive for our dignity, together we pitch for rapid development”. It discussed approaches used by Rwandans to find home grown solutions and self- development by upholding their dignity, implementation of the development plan, EDPRS I, and requirements to prepare EDPRS II, the role of service delivery in speeding up national development and promoting good governance and education in speeding up sustainable development.
The 10th National Dialogue Council was held under the theme “Agaciro: Aiming for self-reliance”. This event tackled the promoting principles and values of self-reliance in Rwanda, the EDPRS 2 agenda towards achieving self-reliance and enhancing domestic saving mechanisms towards self-reliance, prosperity for generations through the Agaciro Development Fund and strategic skills development and youth employment.
Achievements and implementation
All these dialogues have not passed as aa lip service and superficial talk; there has been significant implementation of the resolutions made in these debates. Through the National Dialogue Council, just to mention a few cases, Rwanda has been able to attain most of the resolutions made.
Rwanda has made some significant first steps in trying to attaining self-reliance. After the 10th National Dialogue Council Rwandans have managed to make ccontributions to the Agaciro Development fund, another home grown solution to self-reliance, the fund has grown to a total of Rwf20, 357,275,295 as of December 3rd, 2013.
Through the EDPRS 2, Rwanda has also put its focus on improving lives of Rwanda and ensuring that the economy moves from an agricultural based to a service based economy.
The 2013/14 Fiscal budget has focused on poverty reduction initiatives and Striving for self-reliance & dignity of Rwandans, despite the global economic constraints and donors cutting aid. The 2013-14 Expenditure plan has been ambitious with Rwf1.65trillion Rwandan francs compared to over Rwf1.5trillion from previous year.
In terms of addressing the issues left behind by the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi, the government has ensured that the use of local justice courts (Gacaca) is put to maximum use as a way of implementing justice with intent to reconciling the community.
The promotion of national reconciliation programmes has been witnessed in various communities and many Rwandans now live in harmony. In order to stress the development, today, the government is focusing on the ‘Ndi Umunyarwanda’ (I am a Rwandan) program as a way of promoting communities to have open dialogue about genocide and encourage unity and ‘Rwanda-ness’ as key identity of all Rwandans.
In addition, the One Dollar Campaign (as agreed in the 6th dialogue) raised one billion Rwandan francs to build houses for orphans of the genocide as part of a resolution aimed at supporting vulnerable genocide survivors, then a resolution calling for the speeding up of the Nine Years of Basic Education (9YBE) program and the programme has grown in leaps and bounds.
The Nine-Year Basic Education (9YBE) program has been implemented to addresses the foundation for human resource development. Rwandans played an important role in the success of the initiative, mainly through efforts to construct classrooms to accommodate the programme at different primary schools in the country.
Through 9YBE, primary gross enrolment increased from 145.3% in 2006 to 151.9% in 2007, and remained at an average of 127% between 2008 and 2011. At the lower secondary level, the gross enrolment rate was 48.6% in 2011, and 49.2% in 2012- which led to the programme scooping the 2012 Commonwealth Education Good Practice Award.
Fighting corruption has been a core value and achievement in Rwanda after the establishment of a National Consultative Council to fight corruption (at the 6th dialogue). Today, Rwanda has maintained its position as the least corrupt country in the East African region, according to Corruption Perception Index (CPI) report released by Transparency International. Rwanda is the fourth least corrupt country in Africa and was among the top 50 best performing countries in the world out of 177 surveyed.
This year’s 13th National Dialogue Council, slated for December 6th -7th, comes at a time when the Government of Rwanda is implementing the second phase of the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS2); a plan which sets out ambitious growth targets for accelerating Rwanda’s progress towards middle income status as well as consolidating the achievements registered during the implementation of EDPRS1.
The theme for the 11th Umushyikirano is: “The Rwandan Spirit: Foundation for Sustainable Development”. The event is expected to tackle the current status of the national development agenda and the Journey to self-reliance, increased productivity and private sector growth, and the “Ndi Umunyarwanda” program: Striving to preserve the Rwandan Spirit.
In the past five years, the journey to self-reliance has gained momentum. Domestic resources covered 60.2% of the national budget in the 2013/14 fiscal year, up from 42.8% in 2009/10.
The 11th dialogue will serve as a platform to discuss and understand the factors behind low labor productivity in the main sectors of the economy, including agriculture, industry and services, as well as the positive correlation between productivity and incomes at an individual and macro level.
While the main objective of “Ndi Umunyarwanda” program is to cement the unity and reconciliation process based on four pillars: History, testimonies, forgiveness and healing.