Category: National News

Ubudehe to get Frw 40 billion until 2011

By: Marcel Museminari

A poverty reduction strategy Ubudehe that uses a bottom-up participatory approach has won the approval of the EU which has pledged Frw 40 billion for the next 5 years. EU representative David Mcrae made an impassioned speech to the EU to give Ubudehe 8 billion every year until 2011.This year, Ubudehe received Euro 10 million, about Frw 7 billion which was shared by over 9000 cells throughout the country in order to build public and private wealth. The money also boosted the finacial base of local finance companies especially Banque Populaire, a citizens bank with branches throughout the country.

Mr Mcrae lauded the philosophical underpinnings of Ubudehe and its goals, which he said rhymed with EU aspirations, aimed at reducing poverty and supporting democratization. He called for a basket fund within CDF to take care of Ubudehe.

Ubudehe has also introduced a marked difference in donor funds spending. Unlike projects which have a geographical focus, ubudehe is nationwide. Ubudehe which is a grassroots participatory development project uses traditional approaches to sharing wealth. The underlying principle is to entrust wealth to a needy person (Kugabira) with the expectation that they will repay in due course (not in clock time) (kwitura.) The process of Ubudehe involves a bottom-up approach of problem identification and prioritization at the cell level and now at the 15.000 Umudugudus.Each cell received Euro 900 to support a community project of their choice and to help two needy people democratically chosen in their community.

Local government Minister Musoni Protais opened the three day seminar, remarking that ubudehe had put government in a position of enabler as opposed to one of distributor of goods and services. He also said that a lot of data on poverty had been generated as well as knowledge received by the rural communities involved in the process. At least two people per cell were trained as trainers for their communities.

The most active NGO in Ubudehe has been Action Aid International which was represented at the seminar by its country Director Ms Mukarugwiza Therese.

The main facilitator at the seminar, one Sam Joseph emphasized the importance of a common good as opposed to a private good. He also said the participatory role was beneficial because it "creates a direct problem -solving experience."

SUCCESS STORIES

One of the succes stories told at the seminar was that of rearing small ruminants (goats and sheep). Goats were bought by the community and given to as many as possible in the cell. The beneficiaries are supposed to give back the first offspring which can be given to another person or sold by the ubudehe committee to beef up their bank account at the local bank. A breeding stock has been known to be kept as a public good. One such success story told at the seminar came from drought prone Bugesera where the commmittee is turning the account into a basket fund that is used for lending to pay school fees especially for orphans.

Ubudehe started in Butare in 2001 as an experimental, participatory poverty reduction project, in a cooperative effort among DFID; the EU;Action Aid and the government of Rwanda.

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