Kigali, Rwanda – The United States officially renewed its commitment to the Rwandan people by  providing  over $108 million of development assistance in late December 2014 to fund ongoing and new development projects. These funds, implemented through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will continue the United States’ work to accelerate Rwanda’s progress to middle income status and a better quality of life for its people.

USAID’s development projects in Rwanda, implemented in partnership with the Government of Rwanda, focus on several priority areas, including economic growth and agriculture, food security and nutrition, democracy and governance, basic education, youth employment, and health. The $108 million in funds constitutes the majority of funds provided by the United States through USAID for 2015 development projects in Rwanda. 

Over the last ten years, USAID has contributed over $1 billion to support the Rwandan people, and has contributed significantly to major development successes in that time period, including:

·      Support for prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS including contributing to the provision of anti-retroviral treatment to 82,500 adults and children through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief;

·       Training and equipping dairy farmers and dairy-sector businesses with skills to improve their products and markets, efforts which have created over 6,000 new jobs in the industry in the last two years;

·       Creation and distribution of innovative and interactive literacy materials for P1 and P2 students and teachers in all of Rwanda’s public primary schools that is giving students a solid foundation for their future learning; and

·       Strengthening civil society by building their management capacity, ability to produce evidence-based research, and expanding opportunities for civic participation.

“The United States continues to invest heavily in the health and well-being of the Rwandan people. These additional funds will build on the progress already made and contribute greatly to achieving a more prosperous future for Rwanda,” said U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda, Erica Barks-Ruggles.