Rwanda and Belgium signed a cooperation agreement on January 30 worth €95 million (approximately CHF131 billion) that will be channeled into the countries’ development priority areas.
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Uziel Ndagijimana, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, signed on behalf of both countries, along with Heidi Rombouts, Director-General for Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation.
This cooperation program strategically allocates resources across key sectors such as agriculture, urbanization, health, and public financial management.
According to the ministry, this development is a continuation of the socio-economic impact generated by the ongoing Cooperation Program (2019-2024) and another ongoing bilateral cooperation program on decent work and social protection. (2022-2027).
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Mr. Ndagijimana said the partnership between the two countries has consistently resulted in tangible progress across diverse areas of engagement.
“The latest program represents an important step forward and reaffirms our dedication to critical areas such as agriculture, health, urbanization and financial management, which are the basis of Rwanda’s socio-economic progress. be.”
He added that through the implementation of the program to date, improvements have been seen across target sectors and many lessons have been learned for forging new partnerships.
In the health sector, the five-year program will have a special focus on sexual and reproductive health and combating gender-based violence. In the agricultural sector, access to and consumption of high-quality food for a growing population will be increased through the development of sustainable, resilient and inclusive agricultural value chains.
Furthermore, in urbanization, the program supports the development of sustainable and attractive satellite cities by improving the living conditions of the population, especially the most vulnerable.
Mr. Rombouts said that this partnership will take place as a continuation of the impact created in the areas mentioned, but will also look to areas of innovation to combat common challenges such as climate change.
“Success, results, and impact are never achieved in isolation. We can get a seat at the table because you are setting the table, and we can get results. I think that’s because of your leadership,” she said.
He added that there are ongoing partnerships across other areas, such as social protection and decent work, championing European initiatives at home, other programs such as the African Medicines Agency, and the development of the BioNTech manufacturing plant. .
Enabel, the development agency of the Belgian federal government, is responsible for implementing various areas of bilateral cooperation in Rwanda.