RWANDA (Family Duty Station) 1. Duty Station: a) Location: Kigali b) Classification: C

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1 Country: RWANDA (Family Duty Station) Duty Station: a) Location: Kigali b) Classification: C 3. Required Language(s): English and French are required. Fluency in one and at least working knowledge of the other. The Government has recently decided to use English as the main medium of instruction in the educational sector and also as the language for communication in the government administration. Languages that would be an asset: Kinyarwanda and Swahili 5. Country Situation: Rwanda s economic, social and political landscapes are still deeply marked by 1994 genocide that killed over 800,000 people, destroying much of the country s infrastructure and a large part of the local human capital. The GDP per capita remains among the lowest in the world at US$ 530. According to a survey conducted by the Government in , 37% of the population lived below the extreme poverty line, and 57% of Rwandan households fell below the upper poverty line. Despite recent evidence suggesting a tailing off in the population growth rate, Rwanda has the highest population density in Africa, with an estimated 349 people per square kilometer (2007). Although Kigali has seen relatively rapid population growth in recent years, 90% of the population continues to live in rural areas. Agriculture, the principal economic activity by share of the population, continues to contribute approximately 36% to GDP and, with most cultivable land already exploited, land and population settlements pressures are a challenge. Many social indicators have yet to show significant progress compared with their pre-war levels. The country has made tremendous progress in many areas of social welfare and is on track to meet targets under MDG2 (Achieve universal primary education), MDG3 (Promote gender equality), MDG4 (Reduce child mortality) and MDG6 (Combats AIDs, Malaria and other diseases).yet addressing the other MDGs targets remain key priorities and commitments of the Government through the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) and the Vision Major challenges include the need to maintain sound socio-economic development and prevent a return to instability. Agricultural productivity remains low and, despite recent growth of the services sector, Rwanda s export base remains relatively small and undiversified, with the traditional cash crops typically generating over 80% of export earnings. Infrastructural constraints (high cost of energy and regional transport) continue to hinder Rwanda s competitiveness in the region.

2 Recent Economic Developments: Sweeping economic and institutional reforms, as well as improvements in the security situation, enabled a remarkable recovery of the Rwandan economy in the immediate years after the war. Real GDP growth averaged around 6% per annum over the period Rwanda s economy remained resilient over the five years to 2010, sustaining macroeconomic stability. It experienced a slightly delayed impact of the global economic crisis but is already showing signs of recovery. After a fall of 4.1 % in 2009 from 11.2 % in 2008, the real GDP was estimated at 7.5 % in Overall, GDP growth is forecast to remain strong at 7.2% in 2011, before picking up to 8% in 2012 as a result of foreign investment and an improved power supply. Despite rapid growth and macroeconomic stability, the structure of Rwanda s economy has remained relatively unchanged for decades. The main drivers of the recovery in GDP are continued growth in agriculture, recovery in the services sector, particularly telephones, construction and the export sector. The economy is still dominated by subsistence agriculture which contributes over 36 % of GDP, 80 % of employment and 45 % of exports. The services sector has been the largest contributor to GDP since 2006, contributing almost 46% of GDP in Industrial services' contribution to GDP increased marginally, from 13.8 % in 2009 to 13.9 % in Rwanda s industrial sector remains small, with limited diversity and a focus on agricultural processing. The industrial and services sectors recovered from the global demand decline and the tight credit conditions in the domestic banking sector. Whilst commerce continues to dominate the tertiary sector, the telecommunications and financial services industries have grown in recent years. Rwanda also has a small but growing tourism sector, with the sector being one of the Rwanda s top foreign currency earners. There is a strong stated government commitment to poverty reduction, articulated in Rwanda s Vision 2020, and reflected in the government s second generation PRS the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) which has three key themes: sustainable growth for jobs and exports; governance, and Vision 2020 Umurenge a decentralized integrated development program. The impact on poverty of impressive economic growth in recent years has been uneven, and the results of household surveys suggest that there was little change in the proportion of the population living under the basic poverty line over the period Recurrent droughts, coupled with chronic underinvestment in the agriculture and high population growth, continue to contribute to food insecurity in parts of the country. Rwanda s landlocked location combined with limited regional transport links proves a key structural challenge to its competitiveness. Nearly all of Rwanda s imports and exports travel some 1,500 km by road to the ports of Mombasa (Kenya) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), through roads within Rwanda compare well with those in neighbouring countries. The lack of a reliable energy supply also poses a significant challenge: annual electricity demand grows rapidly, but is constrained by supply. The cost of electricity is approximately twice that of neighbouring countries. Global increases in food and fuel prices compound the challenges further. The main effects of the global crises on Rwanda's economy were decreased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and remittances, and decreased export and tourism receipts.

3 Rwanda s recent accession to the East African Community should see tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade reduced significantly, though it is anticipated that this will result in a reduction in government revenues in the short-term, with the benefits from increased trade being felt over the longer-term. Government is taking action to address a number of structural weaknesses by seeking to reduce non-tariff barriers to trade. Recent reforms in public financial management have contributed to strengthened economic governance, and Rwanda continues to benefit from low levels of corruption by regional standards. The authorities aim to try to take advantage of improving economic conditions to push ahead with market-oriented reforms as they try to position the country as a regional trading and services hub. This strategy has achieved considerable success in cutting red tape and improving the business environment. In 2011, inflation increased significantly due to hikes in global food and oil prices. In July 2011, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 7.1 %, year-on-year, up from 0.2 % of December Overall, inflation pressures were moderate in Rwanda compared to other EAC states Coffee is one the main commodities that Rwanda exports and one of the main sources of income in Rwanda in addition to tourism and tea. Recent Political developments Rwanda has gone through a political transformation following the 1994 genocide in which about 800,000 people were killed. Peace and political stability have helped reconciliation efforts and the strengthening of democratic institutions. Trials held under the Gacaca jurisdiction (a quasitraditional justice system in Rwanda) were largely completed by the end of The trials succeeded in legally processing the massive genocide caseload. However, the prosecution of war crimes, particularly those committed by the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) members, remains a major challenge. The 9 August 2010 presidential election saw a large turnout of over 97% of registered voters. President Paul Kagame, from the RPF, was re-elected for his second and final 7-year term with 93% of the votes. It should be noted that under President Kagame s leadership, the country has made progress on advancing good governance (including zero tolerance of corruption), economic transformation, and social justice. However, there are concerns that the ruling RPF has not done enough to open up space for genuine non-violent political opposition. One of the biggest threats to the current political dispensation in Kigali may thus come from the growing number of former allies of President Kagame who used to support the regime but now are in the opposition with, reportedly, the objective to overthrow Kigali s regime. These include several ex-senior army officers exiled in South Africa. The relations between the DRC and Rwanda have warmed considerably over the past two years. Rwandan senior officials meet regularly with their counterparts from neighbouring countries, either bilaterally or through the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (ECGLC), which includes the DRC, Burundi and Rwanda. In December 2010, the leaders of the Great Lakes countries adopted bold measures to curb the illegal exploitation of natural resources, including through the establishment of a Regional Certification Mechanism.

4 In January 2011, a draft Protocol on Mutual Defense and Security was adopted by the ECGLC Defense and Security Committee. The Protocol, which is yet to be formally adopted by Heads of State, envisages common mechanisms for border control and joint military operations against armed groups. A similar proposal was made by the Speakers of the National Assembly of the ECGLC Member States in March They requested their Governments to create a joint DRC-Burundi-Rwanda military force to combat armed groups in Eastern DRC. There has also been discussion on a draft agreement to facilitate the free movement of ECGLC citizens. Despite these positive developments, the security situation in Eastern DRC remains fragile. The implementation of the 23 March 2009 Agreements between the GoDRC and former armed groups in the Kivus, brokered by SESG Obasanjo and AU Envoy Mkapa, has been very slow. The overall integration process of former armed groups has also been marred by setbacks. Regarding the Hutu-supremacist Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), the group continues to carry out sporadic attacks against civilian populations in the Kivus. However, a significant number of FDLR officers have been repatriated through MONUSCO s DDRRR Programme. The increased repatriations combined with the arrests and prosecution of key political leaders in Germany and France, and signs of dissent and insubordination within the group suggest that the FDLR s military capabilities and internal structures have been further weakened during the past year. 6. Will there be additional coordination functions, eg. Humanitarian Coordinator? The Resident Coordinator functions as Designated Official (DO) for security matters. Should international humanitarian assistance be required in Rwanda or a major crisis occurs, the RC will be expected to lead and coordinate the response efforts of humanitarian actors in support of national efforts. The ERC may designate the RC as the Humanitarian Coordinator following consultation with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee. Rwanda remains highly vulnerable to food insecurity (chronic in eastern and southern provinces) and child malnutrition is almost stagnant at 22%. Global acute malnutrition (GAM) rate is 6% and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is 1.7%t 1. Food production often does not keep pace with the rapid population growth, leading to food imports 2. Any disruption to agricultural activities and/or loss of household assets creates an immediate need and a difficult long-term recovery for vulnerable households in chronically food insecure areas. Rwanda hosts approximately 55,000 refugees (95% from DR Congo, particularly from Eastern DRC: North and South Kivu). 97% of the refugees are camp based (Kiziba, Gihembe and Nyabiheke). UNHCR is working with local partners in providing a multi sectoral assistance to the refugees. According to UNHCR, the refugees have increased by 6% since Adverse weather conditions may lead to transient food insecurity for around 10,000 people each year. Pipeline breaks are especially problematic for refugees, who are totally dependent on external food assistance. The eruption of Mt. Nyiragongo in DRC or a sudden earthquake is a potential risk for an estimated 300,000 to 1,000,000 residents of Goma (DRC) who will likely flee into neighbouring Rubavu district, Western Province of Rwanda. 1 The stunting rates in the refugee camps are high, averaging 50 %, (2008 JAM UNHCR/WFP). 2 Rwanda continues to receive substantial aid money and obtained IMF-World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative debt relief in

5 7. Is RC also the Director of UNIC? NO. 8. Is there an SRSG or other special Envoy of the SG assigned to the country? No SRSG for Rwanda. 9. UN Funds Programmes and Agencies (incl. Regional bodies) represented: 13 UN agencies and bodies: UNDP, UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNFPA, FAO, WHO, UNAIDS, UNIFEM, ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda), World Bank, IMF, and ECA (Economic Commission for Africa, Eastern Africa Sub-regional Development Centre). Non Resident Agencies represented in Rwanda through a programme officer are: IFAD, ILO, UN-HABITAT, UNESCO, UNIDO, and UNCDF. Non Resident Agencies without representation is UNCTAD. OHCHR is represented through a Human Rights Advisor in the Office of the Resident Coordinator (Action 2 Programme). There is also a liaison office for MONUSCO (Mission des Nations Unies en République Démocratique du Congo) in Rwanda. 10. Inter-Agency Task Forces and/or UN Theme Groups operational in the country. In the context of the implementation of the Paris Declaration and in the context of the UNDAF/One UN Programme - that is fully aligned with the sectors as defined in the Economic Development Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) - the UN has several UNDAF Theme Groups (Governance; HIV; Health, Population and Nutrition; Education; Environment; Sustainable Growth and Social Protection). Representatives of the Government and other development partners can be part of the meetings of the UNDAF Theme Groups. In addition to the UNDAF Theme Groups, there is a gender taskforce; a human rights taskforce; a planning, monitoring and evaluation taskforce and the Disaster Management Taskforce (DMTF). All UNDAF Theme Groups and taskforces are co-chaired by two agencies, except the DMTF that is co-chaired by the Prime Minister s Officer and UNHCR. 11. Status of Development Planning Instruments: The second generation PRSP the Economic Development Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) was finalized at the end of 2007 and implementation is now underway. The EDPRS forms the basis of the UNDAF The One Programme is the common programme that emanated from the UNDAF. The One Programme defines the main outputs and outcomes to be attained by the UN in support of national priorities. It also defines the management system of the common UN programme as well as other governance structures and codes of conduct for an efficient and harmonized UN system. The implementation of the One Programme started on 1 January The UNDP CPD ( ) approved by the Executive Board, the UNDAF and the One UN Programme will end in The UNDP Country Programme is in line with the United Nations

6 Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) which reflects the Government of Rwanda s Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) and Vision In order to align with the Government of Rwanda s fiscal cycle (July-June), UNDG-ESA has endorsed the Country Office request to extend the current CPD to June The new CPD should be submitted to the January 2013 Executive Board for endorsement and approval at the June 2013 session. 12. Key political and socio-economical issues significant for UN system development assistance: Since 1994, the Government has made enormous progress in the rehabilitation and development of Rwanda, but a number of fundamental problems remain. These include high dependency on agriculture, a rapidly growing population with limited arable land, extreme poverty, rising levels of disease (HIV-AIDS and malaria), human rights problems (such as lack of press freedom) and constrained implementation capacities at the national and district levels. 13. Highlights of collaborative UN Assistance The major elements on the collaborative performance of the UNCT are: - The support to collaborative programming through programme harmonisation process. - The integrated and coordinated follow-up to global UN conferences - The shared common services. - The UN system public information and advocacy. 14. Key elements of current year s RC work plan To support aid coordination in Rwanda, a well functioning, high level in-country consultative body the Development Partners Cooperation Group (DPCG) co-chaired by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the UNRC is in place. Regular meetings are held to provide a forum for information sharing, and discussion on key events and policy priorities. The meetings are well attended with average meetings attended by 40 high-level country representatives. UNDP provides technical and advisory support to the UNRC to enable him to fulfill his role as representative of Rwanda s Development Partners in this forum. In addition to the DPCG, a One UN Steering Committee has been installed to provide overall guidance to the Delivering as One UN (DaO) reform process in Rwanda. The One UN Steering Committee is chaired by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and is composed of representatives of the Government, the UN and the Development Partners. Other key elements of the current year s RC Work Plan is all linked to the implementation of the DaO process in Rwanda and are mainly focused on the implementation of the One Programme; the capacity assessment of the UNCT to deliver the One Programme; the elaboration of a joint M&E system. 14. Status of Common Premises There is no UN house or common premises for the UN in Kigali. The process toward a UN House is in the pipeline. The UN House will be on a piece of land provided by the government.

7 The land agreement is still in the process to be signed between the government and UNDP on behalf of the UNCT. Since last year, the Operations management team (OMT) representing the UN system agencies has been working on a consultative process towards assistance from the Working Group on Common Premises (WGCP) in order to conduct a cost benefit analysis. The process is yet to be concluded. 16. Status of Common Services In April 2007, the Operations Management Team (OMT) developed an action plan in order to move towards harmonization of services across UN Agencies. In several fields progress has been established such as in the fields of Human Resources (e.g. interagency recruitment panel); Finance (e.g. joint banking agreement); IT; General Administrative Services and Procurement. At least three inter-agencies processes have been conducted last year: two for procuring consultant and consulting firms in the process of implementation of Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfer (HACT) in Rwanda; one for selecting one bank for financial transactions by all agencies. Two other innovations introduced by the UNCT are adoption of new ToRs for OMT including annual rotation of chairmanship and institutionalisation of working groups in the 5 main areas of operations: Human Resources, Finance, Procurement, Administration and HR. The procurement group has just completed development of a common roster for consultants and vendors for all agencies and is now working on how better support the DaO procurement. The HR group, in addition to inter-agency panel for recruitment is developing common package for harmonizing contracts and remuneration for projects staff.