Author: IGIHE

Rwanda denounces Trump ‘shithole’ remarks

It was reported that Trump described El Salvador, Haiti and Certain African nations as ‘Shithole countries’ during a meeting with senators on Thursday.

Trump made the remarks while opposing a proposal he was presented about restoring protections for immigrants from those countries as part of bipartisan immigration deal.

Asked by the media about her reactions on Trump’s words on Saturday, Mushikiwabo said that they are ‘appalling words’.

“First of all, if these words were spoken, it is so appalling. The second is that there are things concerning Africa that were referred to, Africa should face them,” she said.

“In other words, Africa as a continent should do everything to restore the dignity for African people and prove our worth as a continent. Such words, though I am not sure they have been used, but if so, they are appalling and inappropriate,” she added.

{{Different leaders, organisation condemn the remark}}

Different organisations and leaders condemned the remarks and called for Trump apology.

The African Union Mission in Washington said that Trump should apologise for the statement he made.

“The African Union Mission wishes to express its infuriation, disappointment and outrage over the unfortunate comment made by Mr. Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, which remarks dishonour the celebrated American creed and respect for diversity and human dignity,” reads the statement issued.

“The African Union Mission condemns the comments in the strongest terms and demands a retraction of the comment as well as an apology not only to Africans but to all people of African descent around the globe.”

“The language of Donald Trump that the African continent, Haiti and El Salvador are “shithole countries” is extremely unfortunate. We are certainly not a “shithole country”. We will not accept such insults, even from a leader of a friendly country, no matter how powerful,” reads the President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo’s tweet.

Ebba Kalondo, the spokesperson for AU Chairperson Moussa Faki, told AFP that Trump’s statement “truly flies in the face of accepted behaviour and practice.”

“This is not only hurtful, I think, to people of African origin in the United States, but certainly to African citizens,” she said.

“It’s an extremely upsetting statement,” she added.

January 13, 2018
Food rations for refugees in Rwanda are reduced amidst funding shortfalls

Some 130,000 Burundian and Congolese refugees in camps in Rwanda rely on humanitarian assistance to meet their food needs. They receive from WFP either monthly food distributions or cash transfers so that they can buy food in local markets.

“We thank donors for their continued generosity and support, while urging them to further fund humanitarian assistance so that we can give refugees the assistance they depend on,” said WFP Rwanda Country Director Jean-Pierre de Margerie.

Full rations for refugees provide 2,100 calories per person per day, the minimum for a healthy life. Until November 2017, WFP provided 16.95 kilograms of food to each refugee each month, mainly maize, beans, vegetable oil and salt. Other refugees received 7,600 Rwandan Francs (US$9) to buy food in local markets. However, funding shortages forced WFP to trim assistance to 90 percent in November and December. The funding situation is now so bad that from January WFP reduced the ration sizes even further – to 75 percent.

However, refugees identified as particularly vulnerable, such as children under five years of age, school children, pregnant and nursing mothers as well as people living with HIV and tuberculosis patients under treatment still receive a full ration of nutrition support from WFP.

The Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs and UN agencies are currently scaling up implementation of a Joint Strategy on Economic Inclusion of Refugees to enable more of them to become self-reliant and contribute to the economic development of their host communities.

“Now more than ever is the time to find innovative and long-term solutions for refugees in Rwanda,” said UNHCR Representative Ahmed Baba Fall. “Donors have also expressed the need for a change in practice to ensure that limited funding is targeting the needs of refugees more appropriately.”

It is a priority to identify and pursue comprehensible and sustainable pathways for refugees in the Rwandan context. In this light, the ambition is to align the provision of assistance to refugees with the Rwandan National Social Protection system.

UNHCR, WFP and others have started moving towards targeting to ensure the needs of the most vulnerable are considered, while continuing supplementary feeding and promoting self-reliance by supporting a Government pledge to ‘graduate’ 18,000 camp-based refugees from food and/or cash for food assistance programmes by mid-2018.

The strategy will also strive to create access to formal employment opportunities for up to 60,000 refugees and have a similar number using banking services by mid-2018.

WFP relies entirely on voluntary contributions for its humanitarian and development programmes. WFP requires US$2.5 million every month to provide full food or cash assistance to refugees in Rwanda. If WFP receives no new funds, deeper reductions to cash and food may be necessary in coming months. Some US$11 million are needed to restore full support for the next six months.

As of December 2017, UNHCR had secured only 19 percent of its total funding needs, amounting to US$ 20.3 million out of US$ 104.5 million. These resources are required to ensure unhindered access to protection and to invest in comprehensive solutions for over 170,000 refugees hosted in Rwanda, as well as to support the voluntary repatriation of Rwandan returnees, mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

January 13, 2018
ADFD Approves $25 Million for Solar PV Projects in Rwanda, Mauritius

Announced at the Eighth Session of the IRENA Assembly, both projects beneficiaries of the fifth funding cycle are being financed through the IRENA/ADFD Project Facility.

Established in 2013, the seven-cycle Facility offers USD350 million in consessional loans from ADFD to help developing countries access low-cost capital for renewable energy projects.

The projects have the potential to significantly transform the lives of over 2.5 million people and alleviate poverty by bringing affordable energy to low-income communities.

According to the statement by IRENA, renewable energy can positively impact the whole sustainable development spectrum in terms of improved health and education outcomes, better livelihoods and working conditions, and lower air pollution.

The loans cover up to 50% of project costs, leveraging additional funding from other sources. Since 2014, ADFD has allocated USD214 million to 21 projects, attracting over USD420 million in additional co-financing from governments and development funds.

“For developing countries, renewable energy is a triple win: it provides a cost-effective means of providing electricity to families, fuels economic growth, and supports energy independence and security,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin.

“However, many developing countries have trouble accessing financing for renewable energy investment. We are delighted that our continued partnership with ADFD will provide a stable, low-cost source of financing to help Mauritius and Rwanda achieve a sustainable energy future,” added Adnan

His Excellency Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General of ADFD, said: “Our collaboration with IRENA articulates ADFD’s core mandate to support sustainable economic and social progress across developing countries through financing development projects that serve vital economic sectors. ADFD priorities renewable energy as a catalyst for inclusive economic and social development.”

“At ADFD, we believe that through the widespread promotion of sustainable energy projects in countries with immense clean energy potentials, we can contribute to the long term economic prosperity of communities across the word. We are confident that the latest projects selected for funding in Mauritius and Rwanda will deliver sizeable benefits for the economies of local communities,” he added

In Rwanda, the ADFD loan of USD15 million will contribute to the installation of 500,000 off-grid solar PV home systems across the country, providing clean electricity for lighting, mobile phone and radio charging.

The project is a major part of the government’s rural electrification strategy and is one of the most affordable payment schemes in Africa. It employs a flexible mobile payment platform, essential in areas poorly served by banking and transportation infrastructure. 2.5 million people in rural communities are expected to benefit from improved electricity acccess, and more than 2,000 local jobs will be created.

January 13, 2018
Health challenges that may deny you a job opportunity

Also, no employer wants to take on staff that is down with some transmittable diseases for the safety of other staff. For these reasons, employers usually have mandatory tests that must be completed by every new recruit before employment letters are handed out.

Here are two of the major health challenges that employers are wary of.

{{1. HIV}}

Although most companies say they are equal opportunity employers, as much as 95% of those that do pre-employment medicals will not employ a candidate with HIV. HIV means that the cost of insuring that employee with HMO will be high, the employee might have high rate of absenteeism, etc. Most companies save themselves these by rejecting such candidate.

{{2. HEPATITIS B & C}}

As much as 60% of companies will not employ prospective employee found to have hepatitis during medicals. The major reason is, cost of insuring such employee by HMO will be high. Some companies however do go ahead to employ the candidate unconditionally. Some employ the candidate but put condition that the health insurance benefit available to the employee will not cover hepatitis. In other words, they will not pay for hospital expenses relating to management of the employee’s hepatitis.

So those are the major issues that employers would have with a potential employee’s health. It’s sad, but that’s the reality of getting a job these days. It helps a great deal to get regular health checks and quick treatment if need be.

{{Source: elcrema.com}}

January 13, 2018
Family care: Foster mother Mukarubuga shares her story

“My son (adopted) was engulfed by sorrow and solitude the time I found him in the orphanage and in the first days living with us here. I feel so happy now that he can freely interact with us and other children. I sometimes tear up happily when I see him smiling. His life has quite changed,” said the foster mother.

Mukarubuga lives with his husband, their son and fostered 14-year Patrick Cyubahiro in Gahanga Sector of Kicukiro. She makes Rwf25,000 (about $30) monthly while her husband repairs mobile phones, the job that some days earns him with no single coin. They live a moderate life but their limited financial means did not scare them of adopting a child. In fact, the family attempted to adopt three when the couple visited an orphanage back in 2016 but later decided to take in one after deeply planning how they can help the adopted and their own son.

Speaking to IGIHE’s Félicie Tombola, the foster mother says she decided and proposed her husband to adopt a child because she had noticed that children in orphanages were lacking family care. The family has been selected, among other families countrywide, as ‘model parents’ locally known as ‘Malayika Murinzi’ under the National Strategy for Child Care Reform which seeks to transform Rwanda’s current child care and protection system into a family-based care and family-strengthening system.

Approved by the cabinet in March 2012, the strategy targeted to phase down all orphanages in the country and place all children into families by 2015 but statistics show that 2,714 children had been fostered while 1,244 were still in orphanages in June 2017.

{{Not means but goodwill}}

Mukarubuga encourages families to adopt children, saying it doesn’t matter which means the family has but it just takes a loving and willing heart to have mercy for the hopeless children in orphanages.

“I learnt of his (Cyubahiro) story and got pity for him. His mother abandoned him at CHUK (referral hospital in Kigali) when he was three months old. He since then lived in four orphan centres and has never known any of his parents,” she says, adding that if adopting was for families with good financial means, hers would not have adopted a child.

“I felt I could play role in shaping his future as I can do for my own son. I felt ready to share with him the little I earn and my husband has a similar mindset. Since we adopted him, we have not declined financially; instead God has blessed us with means to rent house, for meals and we have recently bought a land plot where we want to develop our residential house.”

Cyubahiro is happy in the family and has got a blissful face. He says he can go to visit his friends in orphanages but never wishes to go back into orphanage life.

“I am better off here. They help me to revise my school lessons; I have got people to interact with and joined a church choir which helped me get rid of fighting and insulting other children as I used to do before. I love my mum and dad (adoptive) because they helped me to know my history and are treating me well. I lived in orphan centres expecting my parents to come and pick me because I didn’t know why I was living there,” he says.

Cyubahiro is doing level five of primary school.

Article 19 of the Constitution of Rwanda amended in 2015 stipulates that a child has the right to specific mechanisms of protection by his or her family, other Rwandans and the State.

January 12, 2018
Kagame receives UN Secretary General personal envoy for Western Sahara conflicts

Speaking to the media after the discussion between both officials, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and East African Community Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo said that Horst’s visit was meaningful as Kagame will take over African Union leadership later this month.

“He came here so that they can share ideas and agree on ways African Union Commission leaders and African countries’ Heads of States in general will give him opportunity to share with them the progress in seeking solutions for Western Sahara conflicts,” she explained.

“Western Sahara problem is under UN in New York since 40 years ago, they are dealing with it, and the solution will come from there. But, African leaders’ ideas are necessary on how the problem could be handled, they cooperate with the envoy on that matter and share him with ideas,” Mushikiwabo added.

The UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy and former Germany President, Horst came in Rwanda from Addis Ababa in the Ethiopia where he had discussions with Current African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat.

Horst was appointed on the matter in August last year succeeding Christopher Ross from the United States of America who completed his assignment in April.

{{About Western Sahara conflicts}}

The Western Sahara conflict is an ongoing conflict between the Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco.

Polisario Front is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement aiming to end Moroccan presence in the Western Sahara.

Meanwhile, the ‘Sahrawi’ are people living in the Western part of Sahara desert which includes Western Sahara (claimed by the Polisario and mostly controlled by Morocco)

It means that current conflicts is the continuation of the past insurgency by Polisario against the Spanish Colonial forces in 1973-1975 and the subsequent Western Sahara War between the Polisario and Morocco between 1975 and 1991.

Today the conflict is dominated by unarmed civil campaigns of the Polisario Front and their self-proclaimed SADR state to gain fully recognized independence for Western Sahara.

January 12, 2018
Night-patrol officers sentenced to life for burning street children

The two officers were found to have committed deliberate savage acts against minors whom they could handle differently.

The accused pleaded guilty.

“They admitted to using sharp pieces of wood to try to dislodge the children from the gutter where they had taken shelter. They added that by sending these pieces of sharp wood into the gutter, they had no other intention than to get them out of there, “reported TV1, quoting the judge who drew the conclusions of the case.

In his defence, Uzabakiriho said that “had he been a criminal, he would have killed all the 38 street children who slept in this gutter.

January 12, 2018
Kagame meets WHO boss

Through his twitter handle after the meeting, Tedros thanked Kagame for leadership and political support for Universal Health Coverage.

“It was a real honor to meet with President Kagame. I thanked him for his leadership and political support for Universal Health Coverage. Rwanda is doing an amazing job for Health For All,” Tedros said in a tweet.

Replying to Tedros’ tweet, Kagame said that Global Health is a paramount responsibility for all leaders.

“Global health is a paramount responsibility for all of us especially leaders. It also has wide security implications. Thank you Dr. Tedros for remarkable work!”Kagame’s said in a tweet.

While visiting Mayange Health Center in Bugesera District yesterday, Tedros commended the job of Community Health Workers (Abajyanamab’Ubuzima) in easing access to health services to population.

He said, Rwanda is a goldmine of best practices for how to make Health For All a reality.

“Rwanda is a goldmine of best practices for how to make Health For All a reality. The community health workers I met today were nothing short of amazing. I was so impressed by their passion and dedication,” he said.

“And this is Rwanda’s present and future, bursting with hope and promise. In Mayange, all pregnant women deliver at the health centre. All people have community health insurance. All children are vaccinated. You don’t see these rates in many places,” he added.

January 12, 2018
Police, owners of hospitality facilities meet on fighting illicit drugs

The meeting held at the RNP General Headquarters in Kacyiru was presided over by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Johnston Busingye, and attended by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Emmanuel K. Gasana and the mayor of City of Kigali, Pascal Nyamulinda.

Minister Busingye, who lauded them for choosing to invest in Rwanda, said that the problem of drugs faces and demands everyone.

“The services you render and the taxes you pay contribute greatly in rewriting our history. We are here to talk about the problem that derails that transformation agenda… the problem that destroys our children, impair their thinking, health, influences violence; kills the capacity of education and labour industry, and which can also lead to the collapse of your business,” Minister Busingye said.

“Drugs are not food, drinks, medicine or nutritious; if you can’t serve it to your husband, wife and children, why would you allow someone else’s child to consume them under your watch or keep quiet at your personal ego of business,” the Minister wondered.

He said that the challenge at hand is to “say no…not under my watch, not in my knowledge and not in my premises.”

“While we are seated here children are out there doing what we are talking about here including in your premises. These children are ours all to protect and to guide; all it requires is commitment, vigilance, providing police with information. It requires a strong channel of cooperation and collaboration, which you should equally be part of to make the campaign successful,” the Minister said.

The meeting is in line with the ongoing nationwide campaign against illicit drugs, which targets all groups including teachers, local leaders, religious leaders, the youth and households as well as the business community, among others.

The Minister also said a redline has been drawn against smoking shisha tobacco, and urged them to heed the call.

He also highlighted on law reforms including the proposed increment to between 20 years and life sentence to anyone convicted of trafficking and selling narcotic drugs.

IGP Gasana, while giving an overview on the extent of the problem, said that close to 3000 dossiers related to narcotic drugs and alcohol abuse among the young generation, were forwarded to prosecution.

The dossiers, he added, involved about 4000 people, majority 71 percent the youth aged between 18 and 35 years.

“We are here to ensure that we the youth are protected, and to enforce the law. Drugs are sometimes consumed in your facilities, alcohol is served to minors in your hotels, bars and night clubs; that’s not business, it’s breaking the law and facilitating lawlessness. We can’t have a wasted generation,” IGP Gasana said, calling for partnership to combat the scourge.

Mayor Nyamulinda also embarked on the implementation of the construction master plan, and urged them to follow procedures and the law while putting up their facilities to prevent disasters that might arise out of irregularities.

Nsengiyumva Barakagwira, the chairperson of RHA observed that the service sector thrives on security, adding that “we are ready to work with Police in all aspects of security and observance of the law.”

RHA brings together about 556 members in the service sector including hotels, restaurants, entertainment spots, motels, guest houses, bars and coffee shops, among others.
Source:RNP News

January 12, 2018
Four simple ways to get that debt burden off you

If you’re in debt because of the aforementioned reason or for something totally different, and you’re depressed because you don’t know how to get yourself out of it, this post should do you some good. Just read through, and you’ll be sure to find the information useful.

{{Determine how much you owe}}

A lot of people tend to stay sad and depressed over their debt rather than think of practical ways to solve the problem. No matter how huge that debt is, the most important thing to do is to first consider how much you owe. Sum up the total amount of money you owe everybody, and take it from there.

{{Prioritize on which debt to settle first}}

You need to ‘strategically attack’ your debt and to do this you must first prioritize the pay off of your debts. This prioritization should be based on the time frame you have and the interest rates (if any). If there are interest rates, then it’s best to pay off the debts with the highest interest rates first. Prioritizing the pay off your debts will make it easier to come up with an effective plan to get out of debt.

{{Avoid more borrowing}}

It’s possible to incur more debt as you try to settle older ones. The reason is because your spending power is automatically limited. However, it doesn’t have to go that way because borrowing more would mean causing more complications for yourself. So you want to avoid temptations to spend unnecessarily. Look away from things you can do without, and give your credit card to someone to keep for you if need be.

{{Consider cutting costs}}

Everyone has hidden income, which refers to moneys that can be saved from cutting down on things you don’t need. Take a look at your bills, and lifestyle. What are those things you think you can do without? What are those bills you can cut to save more money? You’ll be amazed at how much you can realize from this type of move. And you can always channel the money into settling some of that debt.
{{Source: elcrema.com}}

January 12, 2018