Kigali, August 9th, 2013 – As part of the new programme of supporting the Government of Rwanda’s Second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS 2) as underscored in the UNDAP 2013-2018, the One UN and Imbuto Foundation signed a project document of US$ 1.6 million for one year through to June 2014. During the signing ceremony, which took place at the headquarters of Imbuto Foundation, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Lamin Momodou Manneh was accompanied by the Representative of WHO, Dr Dovlo Delanyo; the Representative of UNICEF, Ms. Noala Skinner; the Country Coordinator of UNAIDS, Dr Sibongile Dludlu; the Representative of UN-Women, a.i., Ms. Clara Anyangwe; and the Representative, a.i. of UNFPA, Mr. Cheikh Fall. The Resident Coordinator explained to H.E. the First Lady of the Republic of Rwanda, Mrs. Jeannette Kagame that all the agencies present during the signing ceremony will be joining forces in order for the One UN’s work to have more impact in supporting the Foundation.

The One UN started to support Imbuto Foundation’s work in the context of Delivering as One (DaO) since 2010, in various areas, namely education, health, HIV and AIDS, gender equality, youth empowerment, and the economic empowerment of families. The One UN support to the Foundation has involved financial and technical support, including the provision of capacity building. After the successful collaboration shown over the past years between the two institutions’ collaboration, the Resident Coordinator announced that the One UN wishes to renew its support to the Foundation’s work, which as Mrs. Kagame noted is consistent with the mandate of the One UN in Rwanda.

H.E. the First Lady commended the partnership and working relation the One UN has developed with the Imbuto Foundation over the past years, as its main partner, and said that the Foundation is delighted to work with them. “As a Foundation, we have dreams to achieve, as we want to play a role in the development of our people” said Mrs. Kagame before stating that Imbuto Foundation wishes to continue the very beneficial partnership with the One UN, since both institutions’ objectives relate to Rwandan people’s development.

The new project will contribute to various result areas of the UNDAP 2013-2018, which has been elaborated to more effectively support the development objectives set by the EDPRS 2. As Mr. Manneh said, the new programme will support the following thematic areas:  1) Providing quality education and skills to all children; 2) Responding to disparities and inequalities in the education system as well as to empowering the adolescents and youth; 3) Providing adolescents and youth at high risk with the services, knowledge and skills to make responsible and informed decisions related to sexuality; and 4) Empowering the adolescents and youth to fully participate in Rwanda’s society and economy.

Mr. Manneh concluded that “As Rwanda is a leading global example in promoting gender and women’s rights as well as fighting the violence against them, I believe that, with our renewed efforts, we can also play a leading role to do so, starting with the youth in schools and out of school.”