Rwanda (view map)

Rwanda is a small densely populated country of 9.7 million people located in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa. In recent years the country has seen strong economic growth with key exports including coffee, tea, hides, and tin ore. Despite the economic and political success of recent years it is estimated that two-thirds of the population still live in poverty.

The country remains infamous for the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered over a period of 100 days. The conflict began in 1990 when the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front attempted to regain political control of the country from the Hutu majority. When a plane carrying the Hutu President and his Burundian counterpart, was shot down in April 1994, the Hutu government sanctioned the mass killing of Rwanda’s Tutsi population and moderate Hutus. Millions of people were forced to flee their homes and the country’s physical and administrative infrastructure was left in ruins.

Since the genocide Rwanda has made a startling political and economic recovery, reintegrating refugees and combatants alike into its ever-growing economy and democratic political environment.

To date, 3.5 million refugees and over 30,000 former combatants have been repatriated, resettled and reintegrated. The full economic reintegration of ex-soldiers is a crucial part of ensuring a lasting peace in Rwanda. Establishing a livelihood remains hard in a country where nearly two thirds of population live in poverty. Since the mid-1990s Rwanda has achieved record rates of economic growth, with its economy growing by 10 per cent year on year. The country held local elections in March 1999 and Presidential and Legislative elections in September 2003. Rwanda’s Parliament currently has the highest representation of female MPs in the world (48.8 per cent).

While the ringleaders of the genocide are being tried in a UN backed International Criminal Court in Tanzania, thousands of ordinary Rwandans accused of involvement face traditional community courts known as Gacaca. During the Gacaca trials the accused are taken to the village of the alleged crime to seek forgiveness and reconciliation with the people and the families they targeted.

SCIAF currently works with two partners in the country to promote peace and reconciliation, food security, and income generation.