RISD MEETS STAKEHOLDERS’ ON URBANISATION AND INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS
In the framework of partnering with the City of Kigali (COK), Rwanda Initiative for Sustainable Development (RISD) organised a stakeholders’ meeting that tackled urbanisation and the upgrading programs of informal settlements. The meeting was held at Hotel Villa Portofino, on 22/11/2016.
The stakeholders’ meeting comes after the City of Kigali (CoK) implementing a pilot project on the ‘upgrading of informal settlements’ in Agatare Cell, Nyarugenge Sector in Nyarugenge District. In this pilot project various stakeholders are involved, and these include, the civil society and the private sector.RISD as part of the LandNet Rwanda Chapter is in particular supporting the pilot project in the area of community participation.
The objective of the meeting was to share policy orientation update and implementation experience update on the status of urbanization and informal settlement upgrading, and to document lessons learned from the past experiences, in particular from the Agatare pilot project as well as form recommendations for further implementation strategies, including roles of different stakeholders.
“We as the civil society “wish to congratulate the government of Rwanda on their strategy to open more space for the civil society engagement in the promotion of community engagement and participation” Director of RISD Annie Kairaba said. She also added that,” As we move into the full implementation of urbanization through the secondary cities, we commit more support and partnership of civil society, with broader engagement through LandNet Rwanda Chapter.
In a message addressed to the meeting, the Chairperson of RISD Board of Directors said; “Today, most Rwandans understand and appreciate the benefits of urbanization, but there’s a challenge of upgrading many existing informal settlements that require upgrading if the target of 35% urbanization is to be achieved. Yet, upgrading is still understood by many to mean moving and expropriation of the population, which is not the case – this misunderstanding is across the board, and requires intervention awareness, to mitigate community disputes, a job done well by civil society, and RISD will continue this commitment.” said Bishop Gasatura Nathan, the Chairperson of RISD Board of Directors.As the informal upgrading expands and the development of the secondary cities, “it is RISD’s hope that the government of Rwanda strengthens even further community participation in deciding the upgrading priorities, for the success of the process, based on Agatare pilot experience” he added.
Among the participants were community members who testified that, RISD has given them confidence and knowledge on their land rights through the improved public awareness on urbanization. In his concluding remarks, Mr. Kyazze Eddie, the Head of Urbanization and Informal Settlement in the Rwanda Housing Authority said that, “This is the first kind of the meeting with stakeholders’ on urbanization that has been organized, we highly appreciate this contribution and initiative of RISD, while appealing for continuation of such meetings and dialogues for success of the urbanization program. Kyazze added that, partnership in particular with civil society is very important, as they work with community on day to day basis, and will continue assisting with reliable data from the ground and create public awareness to the population”.
The City of Kigali Engineer Dr. Aplhonse Nkurunziza also said that,” all we do is for the good of the community, so such a meeting is vital because COK is an implementing agency and interested on deliverables that will help them implement better projects and he assured the audience that, today the government strategy is not to go beyond 2 weeks, for any services provided” In particular when handling issues related to urbanization and upgrading process, decisions should be promptly agreed with community and implemented, within the agreed plans, with no excuse from any local leaders. The Engineer emphasized. To demonstrate this, the engineer committed to resolving issues raised through the community testimonies, within this two weeks deadline, including issuance of documents to expropriated community members in collaboration with RNRA.
The Government of Rwanda has taken progressive actions to address urbanization of which among the primary objectives of the National Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy -2(EDPRS 2) is to increase urbanization from 19% to 35% by 2020, So as to match rapid population growth with economic development and poverty reduction in urban areas.
The stakeholders’ meeting comes after the City of Kigali (CoK) implementing a pilot project on the ‘upgrading of informal settlements’ in Agatare Cell, Nyarugenge Sector in Nyarugenge District. In this pilot project various stakeholders are involved, and these include, the civil society and the private sector.RISD as part of the LandNet Rwanda Chapter is in particular supporting the pilot project in the area of community participation.
The objective of the meeting was to share policy orientation update and implementation experience update on the status of urbanization and informal settlement upgrading, and to document lessons learned from the past experiences, in particular from the Agatare pilot project as well as form recommendations for further implementation strategies, including roles of different stakeholders.
“We as the civil society “wish to congratulate the government of Rwanda on their strategy to open more space for the civil society engagement in the promotion of community engagement and participation” Director of RISD Annie Kairaba said. She also added that,” As we move into the full implementation of urbanization through the secondary cities, we commit more support and partnership of civil society, with broader engagement through LandNet Rwanda Chapter.
In a message addressed to the meeting, the Chairperson of RISD Board of Directors said; “Today, most Rwandans understand and appreciate the benefits of urbanization, but there’s a challenge of upgrading many existing informal settlements that require upgrading if the target of 35% urbanization is to be achieved. Yet, upgrading is still understood by many to mean moving and expropriation of the population, which is not the case – this misunderstanding is across the board, and requires intervention awareness, to mitigate community disputes, a job done well by civil society, and RISD will continue this commitment.” said Bishop Gasatura Nathan, the Chairperson of RISD Board of Directors.As the informal upgrading expands and the development of the secondary cities, “it is RISD’s hope that the government of Rwanda strengthens even further community participation in deciding the upgrading priorities, for the success of the process, based on Agatare pilot experience” he added.
Among the participants were community members who testified that, RISD has given them confidence and knowledge on their land rights through the improved public awareness on urbanization. In his concluding remarks, Mr. Kyazze Eddie, the Head of Urbanization and Informal Settlement in the Rwanda Housing Authority said that, “This is the first kind of the meeting with stakeholders’ on urbanization that has been organized, we highly appreciate this contribution and initiative of RISD, while appealing for continuation of such meetings and dialogues for success of the urbanization program. Kyazze added that, partnership in particular with civil society is very important, as they work with community on day to day basis, and will continue assisting with reliable data from the ground and create public awareness to the population”.
The City of Kigali Engineer Dr. Aplhonse Nkurunziza also said that,” all we do is for the good of the community, so such a meeting is vital because COK is an implementing agency and interested on deliverables that will help them implement better projects and he assured the audience that, today the government strategy is not to go beyond 2 weeks, for any services provided” In particular when handling issues related to urbanization and upgrading process, decisions should be promptly agreed with community and implemented, within the agreed plans, with no excuse from any local leaders. The Engineer emphasized. To demonstrate this, the engineer committed to resolving issues raised through the community testimonies, within this two weeks deadline, including issuance of documents to expropriated community members in collaboration with RNRA.
The Government of Rwanda has taken progressive actions to address urbanization of which among the primary objectives of the National Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy -2(EDPRS 2) is to increase urbanization from 19% to 35% by 2020, So as to match rapid population growth with economic development and poverty reduction in urban areas.