More than two decades ago, Rwanda, a landlocked African nation, was engulfed in one of the deadliest tragedies. Hundred days of mass slaughter resulted in more than 800,000 deaths between April and July, 1994. But the country that was buried in communal violence only two decades ago is now set to become an example for many countries, including developed ones.By July of 1994, Rwanda had experienced one of the most violent conflicts of 20th century. Many believed the country was doomed. But Rwandans started afresh. Under the leadership of President Paul Kagame, Rwanda worked to eliminate the root cause of genocide. It united the people for a common cause of progress and constructed a new national identity: Rwandan, instead of Hutu or Tutsi that had been the cause of division.
With this Rwanda has maintained political stability and promising economic growth after 1994. For years Rwanda's impressive GDP growth—approximately eight percent annually—has made economists sit up and take notice. With the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and various donor countries, Rwanda has been able to make important economic and structural reforms and sustain its economic growth over the last decade. Rwandan government also deserves credit for properly using its foreign aid properly and maintaining transparency all along.
Today, Rwanda stands as an example of proper management of aid. But the country also admits that it cannot depend on foreign aid permanently. So aid as a percent of government expenditure has dropped from 85 percent in 2000 to 45 percent in 2010. The main reason Rwanda reduced foreign aid flow through domestic resource mobilization was to make the country less vulnerable to fluctuations in aid flows. Rwanda is now emphasizing high tech, transport and energy in a bid to spur growth and reduce its dependency on donors.
It has had the track record of zero-tolerance for corruption. It was ranked fourth among the least corrupt countries in Africa. A Transparency International Rwanda research shows that the vast majority of respondents (72.4 percent) believe corruption has decreased and almost the same percentage (71.8 percent) believe it will further decrease.
The country in 2000 launched Vision 2020, with an aim of transforming Rwanda into a knowledge-based middle-income country, thereby reducing poverty, and making the nation more united and democratic. It seems Rwanda is making progress in this direction. In a period of around five years, the government has lifted almost a million people out of poverty. Child mortality has been reduced to half. It has the highest primary school enrollment rate in Africa.
The UNESCO, Education for All Global Monitoring report in 2014 listed Rwanda as one of the three top performing countries in the world for reducing out of school population by at least 85 percent over the past five years. The country is now focused on enhancing teaching and learning.
When Bidya Devi Bhandari became the first female President of Nepal in October 2015, I saw many of my Facebook friends boast how inclusive Nepal has become. I personally do not see any reason for hailing this step as a milestone in country where the President is only a symbolic head. But look at Rwanda. It has impressive 64 percent women parliamentarians. It ranks third out of the 144 countries scored for the ratio of women in the labor force. For every man working in Rwanda, 1.02 women are employed. Half the country's 14 Supreme Court justices are women and new laws enable women to own and inherit property.
A few months ago the only thing I knew about Rwanda was its dreadful genocide and the movie Hotel Rwanda, a true story of a man who saves the life of his family and thousands of other refugees. It was only after I met Rwandans studying in Delhi that I changed this notion.
Rwandans are optimistic about their country's future. But all these glorious achievements were not easy. It was not easy to inculcate in general public mind that they were not Hutus or Tutsis but Rwandans, when the scar of the genocide was still fresh in their minds. The success Rwanda has achieved in reconciliation, reconstruction and development since the end of the conflict is a result of a combination of leadership, national ownership and innovative approaches to governance and employment generation, with the support of the international community. Political leaders of Nepal have a great deal to learn from this small landlocked East-African nation while we are struggling to stabilize peace in our country.
The author is a student of Law at Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi
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