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Participants at the 6th General Assembly of the Rwanda Red Cross/ Photo by Antoine Numugabo |
The Rwanda Red Cross Society conducted
its 6th General Assembly since its founding in 1964 on the 23rd
of July 2016 under the theme “strengthening community resilience and disaster
risk reduction.”
Under the constitution that
governs the Rwanda Red Cross, a General Assembly, which is the most highly
ranked body in the governance of this Rwandan society, is convened every four
years to give general guidance on the day to day management and the society.
During the 6th General
Assembly, management and governance structures represented the achievements of
the past five years correlating to a five year strategic plan that will be
completed at the end of the year.
Among other achievements, the
Rwanda Red Cross was glad to note that the society was able to respond to most
of the disasters that were experienced in Rwanda, supporting affected families
with immediate emergency support in addition to post emergency recovery
support.
In the area of recovery, the
Rwanda Red Cross Secretary General Mr. Apollinaire Karamaga noted that the National
Society manage to respond to the needs of Rwandans evicted from Tanzania in
2013, resettling people hit by natural disasters and resettling others from
high-risk zones through construction of good quality housing.
Close to 2,000 houses were
constructed with some examples including the 180 houses constructed in Bikingi
village of Nyabihu District in the Western Province which benefited Rwandans who
repatriated from DR Congo and lacked descent homes in addition to vulnerable
families that were living in high-risk zones.
But more notably, the Rwanda Red
Cross in the past five years directed a lot of energy in community resilience
undertakings under its “Model village” approach. This is an integrated way of
holistically empowering a community to address its vulnerabilities.
“We have 18 villages in each
district meaning a total of 540 with which we are working towards building
their capacities to solve their vulnerabilities. Activities in
these villages are largely centred on mindset change and supporting vulnerable
people to gain access to the economy through supporting livelihood support initiatives,”
Karamaga notes.
For instance livestock are
distributed to vulnerable families in efforts to help them get an income and
fight feed insecurity. In the last five years, more than 8,000 livestock were
distribute and thanks to the rotation scheme policy which requires a
beneficiary to give to the next person on the first birth, more than 31,000
vulnerable households benefited and indeed their lives have been transformed
significantly.
But aside management at the
General Secretariat, the Rwanda Red Cross is on the national level governed by
a committee of governors which is elected by the General Assembly.
Similarly during the 6th
General Assembly, a new governing committee was elected to carry on the works
that another which has been at the helm of the institution since 2008 and
headed by Dr. Bernard Nzigiye as its President.
Speaking slightly before the
election of new committee members, Dr. Nzigiye noted that some of the key policies
that the committee he led placed greater emphasis included decentralization of
Rwanda Red Cross structures, resource capacity development to facilitate the
National Society to grow towards self-reliance (kwigira) and in recruiting
capable leaders at decentralized levels and strong staff at the National
Secretariat.
“The things I am glad for include
the fact that today; Rwanda Red Cross not only depends on the support of others
to finance its daily activities but also has managed to grow to an extent where
it can meet some of its costs. This is the direction we strongly encouraged and
we hope and no doubt it will continue towards self-reliance. It is only then
that we will be able to sustainably support suffering Rwandans every time they
need us for we will not be waiting upon foreign support alone.”
According to the constitution of
the Rwanda Red Cross, a committee cannot be in office beyond two four-year
terms and as such, the Rwanda Red Cross 6th General Assembly voted
for new members who will be joined by representatives of the Ministries of
Health and Local Government, a Treasurer General they will appoint, and the Secretary
General of the Rwanda Red Cross to form the National Society’s 6th
Governing Committee.
New Governing Committee of the
Rwanda Red Cross Society
President
_________________________________________________ Dr. Bwito Paul
Vice President
____________________________________________ Ms. Mukandekezi Froincoise
Secretary__________________________________________________Mr. Apollinaire Karamaga
Member of National Governing
Committee (Kigali City) ___________ Ms. Uwamahoro M. Jose
Member of National Governing
Committee (Western Province) ______Mr. Mazimpaka S. Emmanuel
Member of National Governing
Committee (Northern Province) _____ Mr. Simango Maxime
Member of National Governing
Committee (Eastern Province) _______Ms. J. D’Arc Muhawenimana
Member of National Governing
Committee (Southern Province) ______Mr. Sebaganwa Guillaume
Also, the board will have the
representation of the Rwanda Red Cross youth wing President and Vice President
who were elected last year by the youth General Assembly.
Youth President ________________________________________________
Ms. Rubuga Allexia
Youth Vice President
____________________________________________ Mr. Majyambere Silas
About Rwanda Red Cross Society
The Rwanda Red Cross Society was
established in the country since 1964 to support the Rwandan Government in
humanitarian action.
As a support organ to Rwandan
authorities in humanitarian action, RRCS is present in every district and sector
of Rwanda through local committees at each of these administrative levels which
are charged with the day to day activities of the society and its ever growing
network of volunteers and members.
Over the last 50 years and more
profoundly in the past 20 years, RRCS has scaled up its activities to go beyond
response during natural disasters and emergencies to tackle the gist of the
problem; impoverishment.
Through several projects with the
support of various partners including among others the Rwandan Government,
Rwanda Red Cross has catalyzed development for many formerly dissolute Rwandans
and has been supported efforts to reduce disaster risk.
In implementing all these various
activities, the target has and will always be; building resilient communities
and alleviating human suffering in Rwanda.
The Rwanda Red Cross is managed
by a General Secretariat headed by the
Secretary General while the governing authority which offers long term
orientation is the National Governing Committee headed by a President elected
by a once in four years General Assembly.
At the decentralized levels, a
district committee is elected at each district headed by a President and Vice
President. This similar structure is replicated in sectors and cells where committees
have been established.
Currently, there are more than 100,000
members who contribute annual membership fees to the Rwanda Red Cross while thousands
of volunteers are mobilized now and then across the country to support the
implementation of several interventions to support alleviate the plight of
those in most need.
Currently, the annual membership contribution is
a minimum of Frw2,000 and 500 for adults and youth respectively and anyone can
go to their respective district branch to make their contribution to support
efforts to help the most vulnerable.