§ The Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn)I am today placing a copy in the Library of DFID's Country Assistance Plan for Rwanda over the next three years.
Rwanda has made extraordinary progress since the 1994 genocide, which claimed the lives of over 800,000 Rwandans—1 in 10 of the population. The country is at peace, the economy is stable and growing, access to quality education and health services is increasing rapidly, and the incidence of poverty is declining, from around 70 per cent. in 1994 to under 60 per cent. in 2001. But the challenge remains immense. All of Government's actions are driven by the need to reconcile the people and build a new "Rwandan" (rather than ethnic) identity. This will take time. Meanwhile, it must balance the need to open up space for legitimate political debate with the reality of extreme social fragility. The price of failure may be renewed conflict.
The UK will remain Rwanda's major bilateral development partner. Recognising Rwanda's traumatic past, its continuing severe needs, the potential for instability in the region, and the Government of Rwanda's commitment to poverty reduction and to establishing a democratic and inclusive state, DFID's programme will rise from £37 million in this financial year to £42 million next year and £47 million the year after. Two-thirds of our programme will continue to be delivered as direct budgetary support, to help finance the Government of Rwanda's own strategy. DFID believes that where adequate government structures and systems are in place, such support can have the greatest impact on poverty. We will continue our support for capacity building around Government's strategic planning and budgeting processes, revenue collection and education. We will also develop two major new programmes, aimed at supporting rural livelihoods and at strengthening the capacity of civil society organisations to represent Rwandan citizens and progressively secure their human rights.
Our engagement with the Government of Rwanda will continue to be based upon the joint commitments set down in the UK/Rwanda Memorandum of Understanding. These commitments include: the promotion of peace and stability within the Great Lakes region, including the promotion of transparency and legality of the exploitation of the region's natural resources; the promotion and protection of all human rights, and; establishing a democratic and inclusive state. We have a substantive and honest dialogue with the Government of Rwanda on progress towards these commitments, supported by an annual independent review. Should we believe that the Government of 42WS Rwanda is not honouring the commitments made in the Memorandum of Understanding, and where the consultation process provided for within the Memorandum of Understanding fails to satisfy our concern, then the UK Government reserve the right to amend or suspend our engagement with the Government of Rwanda. Our analysis, and that of the independent review, is that the Government of Rwanda remains committed to progressively securing all human rights for its citizens and to establishing a democratic and inclusive state. Our engagement will help the Government of Rwanda to make good on those commitments.