Rwanda : Health Ministry contributes to solidarity fund

Staff member in the ministry of health have agreed to contribute over Rwf1.2billion to the Solidarity Fund (Agaciro development fund) as a way of joining the rest of the Rwandan institutions in showing their commitment to national development.

The Minister of Health, Dr Agnès Binagwaho, on September 10, handed over the cheque to the ministry of finance, which oversee the development of the fund. She said that this contribution will be vital in supporting the national health programs which are crucial in the country’s development priorities.

She said that the contribution is a sign that Rwandans give great value to issue of social and economic development, aimed at building their country through the efforts of the citizens.

The Agaciro Development Fund is a solidarity fund that has been initiated by Rwandans to deal with the increasingly unpredictable levels of financing received by donors. The fund is not coming to substitute the existing funds but rather to supplement. The uniqueness of the fund is that it is Rwandans themselves that will finance it.  It will join other existing funds meant to finance Rwanda’s development programmes.

So far over Rwf13billion has been collected since the fund was launched in August 2012, by President Paul Kagame. Since the launch date, many private and public institutions and individuals have also continued to make their pledges in support of the initiative and the contributions have continued to come in each day.

The Agaciro Development Fund will likely not be able to raise the levels of funding needed to cover budgetary support, but it sets the tone that Rwandans will work together to drive their own development; giving the entire Rwandan population a level of direct ownership in the nation’s projects.