Kigali, 23 October 2020- The Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Infrastructure, Eng. Patricie UWASE, joined WaterAid Rwanda to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of partnership with the Government of Rwanda in the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene services.  

In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary highly appreciated the significant role played by WaterAid Rwanda during the last decade.

“The Government of Rwanda recognizes the key role of water and sanitation in the protection of public health and socio-economic development and with its partners in the sector, is highly investing in the sector to ensure sustainable, equitable, reliable and affordable water and sanitation services to all Rwandans.” she said.

Permanent Secretary UWASE said that the Government of Rwanda recognizes the work done at community level, where WaterAid Rwanda has been providing water supply and sanitation facilities to communities, public places and schools.

As the Government of Rwanda has a target to achieve universal access to water and sanitation basic service level by 2024 and committed to achieve the SDG targets in Water and Sanitation Sector, the Permanent Secretary called upon WaterAid Rwanda and others to join efforts in order to achieve the sector targets.

In his remarks, Mr. Maurice KWIZERA, Country Director of WaterAid Rwanda, highlighted core achievements and key learnings from the past decade.  He mentioned that since 2010, WaterAid Rwanda made impactful demonstration of innovative and sustainable Water and sanitation technologies and approaches that benefited more than 113,000 people for clean water, 98,000 people for sanitation and more than 867,000 people for hygiene behavior change.

As highlighted by Marieme Dem, Acting International Programmes Director at WaterAid United Kingdom, Water sanitation and hygiene is a right and is a must to development.

“You can’t reach the outcomes without access to safe water, decent sanitation, and good hygiene,", she said. 

Testimonies from beneficiaries reaffirmed the significant impact of WaterAid programmes in schools, communities, public places and health centers.  Richard MUTABAZI, the Mayor of Bugesera District, mentioned that WaterAid Rwanda has supported the district to construct latrines for more than 3000 households and renovate more than 10,000 substandard latrines in the District.

The CEO WaterAid International, Tim Wainwright, noted that “It is great to see WaterAid adding value, working together with partners, focusing on the last mile provision of services, reaching the most vulnerable in a sustainable way and taking an aerial wide approach.”