Author: IGIHE

For over a decade Ms. Sall, an expert in adolescent girls’ rights, has designed and implemented novel programs aimed at empowering, protecting and transforming the lives of adolescent girls. She has made an impact in incredibly challenging environments in Africa, including Rwanda and Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone she devised a plan to effectively provide much-needed aid to overlooked adolescent girls during the 2015 Ebola outbreak and the 2017 Freetown floods. Her work has attracted the attention of some of the world’s most respected organizations including the International Rescue Committee, Population Services International and Irish Aid. She is slated to join the US-based organization, The Global Fund for Women, as its Program Director for Adolescent Girls’ Rights.

Ms. Sall has done vitally important work for several renowned human rights organizations.
In her role as an Adolescent Girls Specialist at the highly successful Nike Foundation/DFID-sponsored Girl Hub (2013-2015) and as a Program Manager with the Population Services International (2010-2013) both in Rwanda, Ms. Sall significantly contributed to the enormous expansion of the “12+ program.” The 12+ program is an innovative adolescent girls’ program aimed at delaying adolescent girls’ sexual activity and increasing contraceptive use once needed. Under Ms. Sall’s guidance, the program reached more than 100,000 girls, across all 30 districts of Rwanda, an unprecedented success. Her perseverance and leadership in that endeavor reflects her uncanny ability to plan strategically, mobilize resources, manage programs and research complex novel issues.

Without a doubt it was her unique insights and dedication that provided the secret sauce that resulted in the successful scale-up of the 12+ program. Her model in the pilot phase was so successful that it continues to be implemented. Today it is used by other programs in numerous other countries.

Some believe that during the most challenging circumstances, the very best emerges. In 2015, during the massive Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, Ms. Sall moved from the relative safety of Rwanda to work for the International Rescue Committee as an Adolescent Girls Protection and Empowerment Specialist in Sierra Leone. Specifically, she worked with adolescent girl survivors of gender-based violence and the Ebola virus disease (EVD). As a result of her work, Ms. Sall was invited by the prestigious Sierra Leone (Salone) Adolescent Girls Network to serve as a member and technical specialist, and later was elected to its steering committee. During her time in Sierra Leone, Ms. Sall recognized the devastating impact of EVD on vulnerable adolescent girls. She was instrumental in obtaining much-needed grants to promote solidarity and leadership for women and girls in Sierra Leone.

“The Ebola outbreak had devastating effects on the lives of Sierra Leoneans. During the emergency, adolescent girls were disproportionally and tragically affected. Many girls had lost their families, schools were shut, and many girls were at risk of sexual exploitation and violence. They needed the opportunity to meet in safe spaces and share whatever they were going through. They needed psychosocial support,” Ms. Sall recalls.

Aissata Sall is well-regarded in Africa and beyond for her impactful work in creating a Community of Practice (CoP). CoP is a coalition of organizations and individual experts dedicated to eradicating violence against women and girls. This CoP included national and international NGOs, UN agencies, the donor community, and advocates and experts working to address gender-based violence specifically, violence against women and girls. In fact, in August 2017, the CoP she created, worked closely with the government of Sierra Leone to provide an emergency response to victims of gender-based violence during the mudslides and floods that caused hundreds of deaths and the displacement of thousands of people in Freetown.

Ms. Sall has Played a Leading Role in Obtaining Grants of Worthy Causes

Over the years Ms. Sall has developed relationships with some of the world’s most distinguished aid organizations. Her expertise, dedication and reputation as being a straight shooter who maximizes every bit of grant money has been instrumental in the awarding of local and international grants – including a recent €1 million+ grant from Irish Aid.

Furthermore, she has played a key role in the awarding of grants from numerous respected women’s international philanthropic institutions.

As a leading expert in the field of promoting adolescent girls’ rights, Ms. Sall regularly participates as a panelist at numerous professional conferences and technical meetings in Rwanda (Fourth Partnership Forum on HIV and AIDS), Benin (Population Council), Ethiopia (Population Council – Adolescent Girls Learning Circle), and the USA (Population Council’s event at the Commission on the Status of Women).

Ms. Sall has been toiling in the field for more than a decade. In 2008, the Government of Rwanda’s cabinet recognized her ability to improve the lives of adolescent girls by appointing her to the Ministry of Youth. The World Bank invited her to be a member of the Steering Committee of its Adolescent Girls Initiative (AGI), an interventionist program that promotes the ‘transition of adolescent girls from school to productive employment’. While there, she provided the AGI Steering Committee guidance that allowed adolescent girls to realize their full potential at a particularly critical period.

Ms. Sall is an ardent advocate for adolescent girls in Africa and Beyond

“I have always had a strong belief that I could bring positive change to the lives of adolescent girls. They face a myriad of challenges as they navigate this stage of life. Child marriage, teenage pregnancies, dropping out of school, sexual abuse, HIV and STIs are some of the considerable risks that increase girls’ vulnerabilities. Evidence indicates the importance of investing in girls in their early adolescence and the need to address discriminatory gender norms, attitudes and practices that perpetuate girls’ vulnerabilities,” Ms. Sall says.

Despite these challenges, Ms. Sall believes that if given the right platform to build their life-skills, to believe in themselves and to raise their voices, young girls can become real agents of change.

“I will continue to be a champion for adolescent girls’ rights. I truly believe that they have a voice and need to be listened to so my work going forward is to provide them with that platform and push for their rights,” says Ms. Sall.

{{The Future Impact of her Work will Benefit Millions.
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Aissata Sall has changed the landscape for adolescent girls in Rwanda and Sierra Leone. In her next role as a Director with the Global Fund for Women, she will be poised to have an increased impact in improving the lives and futures for many generations. She also serves as an excellent role-model for our daughters and all girls and women.

The head of Rwanda Energy Group (REG) branch in Nyaruguru District, Christophe Niyotwizera, said that in 2017/18 they had agreed to supply electricity to 1200 households but they ended up doing so for 3038.

In six months of the 2018/19 budget year, REG in Nyaruguru District has supplied electricity to 2179 households, but the target is 4200 households will receive electricity not later than June 2019.

Niyotwizera said electricity has helped people in Nyaruguru to leave the dark and create various lucrative jobs, such as building grinding mills, haircut salons, among others.

“They also utilized it in other lucrative projects such as establishing ‘udukiriro’, coffee and tea processing factories. Electricity also helps them in education especially in One Laptop per Child program. Electricity also enhances the level of service delivery.”

When IGIHE visited residents of different sectors of the district, including the ones who were supplied with electricity recently and those who got it earlier, they all said that it transformed their lives significantly.

Some of Ruramba Sector residents, who are being given electricity in these days, said they are happy to leave the dark as Marcela Iyakaremye of Nyarugano Cell said:

“We are so happy because we expect a lot from the electricity that has been given to us.
Moreover, having hair cut was a problem, but now we’re going to buy our own machines and do it on our own,” she said.

Mr. Alphonse Munyaneza, a pastor in the Methodist Church, located in Gabiro Cell, said that they had bought musical instruments but they remained unused for six months because they did not have electricity to run them.

“We have been with electricity for a week. That is we had been keeping the instruments because we lacked enough power to run them, but now when we pray we play music, and people are very happy,” he said.

He said that buying engines and fuel weekly was costly, so they preferred to keep them, waiting for electricity.

Jean-Claude Nsengimana has a house where he does business and charges telephones, said that those who want to charge their phones pay him Rwf100, while it used to cost, at least, Rwf300 before.

“We used to pay at least Rwf300 to have our phones charged because if you sent a child to charge a phone in Rwamiko or Ruramba, you had to pay Rwf1500. For a quick person, it took two hours to arrive there on foot. So children would ask you Rwf200 as wages and Rwf100 to charge it, but now it no longer happens,” he said.

He added that they are planning to buy cereal grinding mills and other lucrative projects, and that the electricity helps them to maintain security.

{{Early beneficiaries moving faster
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According to Emmanuel Kanyesigye, Mata Tea Factory director in Mata Sector, “In fact, electricity helps us a great deal in processing tea because it is not possible for the factory to work without it.”

He said that for instance, in case of a blackout, the factory uses at least 40 liters of fuel in two hours, costing over Rwf40000.

“It was so expensive that without electricity, working was a matter of concern,” he said.
The factory has been also instrumental in assisting its employees and nearby residents because apart from offering them jobs to provide them with income and opportunities for children’s schooling and other schools, it also helps the vulnerable to activities aimed at improving their lives, such as being able to pay for health insurance.

Jean Hitimana, who has a project that makes wooden materials, said that before, they used equipment that does not require electricity as planes and saws which took longer.

“I later bought electrical machines but it is really fine operating them, work does not take long, allowing you to give customers what they need on time and do as much as possible,” he said.

For instance, it took less than three days for his workers to make a door costing Rwf15000, while his workers who didn’t use electricity made it in three days before. However, since they started using electricity, they do so within 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, Hitimana was able to give jobs to seven people.

REG branch in Nyaruguru announces that houses with electricity are estimated at more than 36.7%, and the target is that before 2024, each household will have electricity as is the government’s target across the country.

The 9th edition of the Rwanda Bribery Index shows the percentage of people who have been directly or indirectly asked for bribes or who have offered a bribe in an interaction with an institution. It was released on Wednesday, indicating that 1.3 million people offered bribes.

The study was conducted in Nyarugenge, Kicukiro, Gasabo, Huye, Kamonyi, Kirehe, Nyagatare, Gicumbi, Rulindo, Rubavu, and Ngororero, with some 2400 respondents aged over 18 years old.

Universities, judiciary, and traffic police are on the top list concerning the highest amount of bribe paid.

Generally, at the universities, the number of bribes paid were Rwf525,000, the judiciary Rwf216,000, while for traffic police, they are estimated at Rwf128,000.

The study has shown that in local governance, the bribe rate is higher at 30.9%, especially in terms of construction permits, which is still high at 44.12%.

The private sector also has a higher rate of corruption, which is at 19.28%.

The chairperson of Transparency International Rwanda, Ingabire Marie Immaculée, told IGIHE that bribes in universities are given by students paying to get accommodation at school, and some others offer bribes to be awarded free marks.

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Uwamahoro was arrested on Wednesday evening. It’s reported the bribe was offered to allow a resident to illegally build a house at the side of the road.

The Spokesperson of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau, Modeste Mbabazi confirmed to IGIHE that Kinoni Sector Executive Secretary was arrested and she is held at Gahunga Police Station.

“It is true she was arrested on Wednesday evening red-handed receiving a bribe of Rwf200,000 that she had solicited from a resident. She is now detained at Gahunga Police Station as the investigation goes on,” Mbabazi said.

Ndayizera was on Thursday in court for bail application hearing. He was in court with a group of 10 people co-accused of terrorism charges.

Ndayizera was represented by lawyers but most of his co-accused said they have no lawyers with others saying they don’t know what they are being accused of.

Some other lawyers representing the accused told the court they had not got enough time to talk with their clients which made them all request for the case adjournment.

The prosecution requested that when the case resumes, it should be held behind closed doors due to the gravity of charges the accused are charged with.

The judge agreed to the prosecution’s wish and ruled that the case be adjourned until December 17, this year.

Ndayizera was arrested last month with another man suspected to have handed him a dynamite that they allegedly planned to use in terrorist acts.

A resident of Muhanga District, Ndayizera denied all the charges he faces when he was presented to media, at Rwanda Investigation Bureau, (RIB) headquarters in Kimihurura, Kigali on 28th last month.

“I know nothing about those dynamites,” Ndayizera then said in front of members of the international and local media.

The Spokesperson of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), Modeste Mbabazi said Ndayizera was arrested in Nyamirambo, Kigali after he had received the dynamite.

Terrorism is punished under article 19 of the antiterrorism law. It stipulates that any person who attempts, takes part or supports terrorism acts commits a crime and upon conviction, he shall be liable to a penalty of not less than 15 years of imprisonment but not more than 20 years.