AVSI in Rwanda
- Kigali HQ Office
- Muhura Office Eastern Province, Muhura, Gatsibo
Po.Box 3185 Kigali
Tel: +(250) 788 557 803 - Gasange Office Eastern Province,Gasange, Gatsibo
Po.Box 3185 ,Kigali
Tel: +(250)788 815 669 - Gicumbi Office Northern Province, Rukomo, Gicumbi
Po.Box 3185 Kigali
Tel: +(250) 788 734 336 - Gicumbi - Nyamiyaga Office Northern Province, Nyamiyaga, Gicumbi
Po.Box: 3185 Kigali
Tel: +(250) 788 739 922 - Kamonyi Office Southern Province,Musambira, Kamonyi
Po.Box 3185 Kigali
Tel: +(250) 788 602 966 - Ruhango Office Southern Province, Ruhango
Po.Box 3185 Kigali
Tel: +(250) 783 220 233 - Nyanza Office Southern Province, Kigoma, Nyanza
Po.Box 3185 Kigali
Tel: +(250) 788 758 912
AVSI started working in Rwanda in 1994, just after the genocide. Initially engaged in humanitarian emergency interventions, today we work for sustainable development in 26 districts by accompanying about 30.000 people, both direct and indirect
As of December 2020, AVSI Rwanda got its legal status to work as a registered local organization in Rwanda. Created from the international branch AVSI, it started its operation in Rwanda in 1994, just after the Genocide against Tutsis. Initially engaged in humanitarian emergency interventions, today AVSI Rwanda has transitioned to long-term development interventions. AVSI Rwanda builds on the long experience gained during its presence in Rwanda, the good relationship with various stakeholders and the physical presence on the ground.
AVSI began its work alongside the Rwandan population in 1994, when it was one of the first NGOs to cross the border into Uganda to support the victims of the genocide by providing them with humanitarian aid and basic needs. Today, the projects implemented contribute to the socio-economic transformation of the country and to sustainable development.
In our history, we have always worked for people with people. Our goal is to accompany young people and families until they are able to go it alone, providing them with the opportunity to create a path of development that lasts over time.
Lorette Birara, AVSI Rwanda Legal Representative
Nowadays, AVSI Rwanda operates in 26 districts, focusing on five aspects in particular:
- Education, by ensuring access to quality education for vulnerable school-age and young children; providing vocational and entrepreneurial training for out-of-school youth; offering adult literacy classes; establishing student assemblies to increase children's participation; and strengthening educational facilities, educators' capacities and parent-teacher committees.
- Child protection and youth rights, by establishing early childhood development centres; organizing awareness-raising sessions to prevent and combat violence, abuse and neglect; involving parents in childcare activities in schools and increasing their skills as carers; providing psychological, medical and legal support to children's families within AVSI Rwanda's educational centres.
- Gender equality and women's empowerment, through the creation of early childhood development centres; the organisation of awareness-raising sessions to prevent and combat violence, abuse and exploitation of women, with a special focus on marginalised groups including young single mothers; psychological, medical and legal support to women victims of violence; awareness-raising activities aimed at men to increase their involvement in domestic activities; the creation of women's working groups and new opportunities for collaboration.
- Mental health, combating the cultural stigma that prevents those with mental disorders from being an integral part of society; increasing knowledge and acceptance of the disease through promotional events and information dissemination; working with universities and hospitals to enable access to treatment and healthcare.
- Economic empowerment, by empowering families and communities through awareness-raising activities on nutrition, health and sanitation, sexual and reproductive health; promoting training in business development, entrepreneurship and income-generating activities; establishing savings and loan groups, and partnerships with microfinance institutions.
- Climate change and agriculture, thanks to the transversality of the projects, AVSI Rwanda aim at creating sustainable realities over time, relying on a circular economy, characterized by waste reduction and an increasing agricultural potential.
Approach and intervention
AVSI Rwanda's activities are divided into three levels of intervention. At the bottom there is the individual:
- vulnerable children accompanied across their development path starting from access to quality education through the distance support program
- women and single mothers to whom new skills and abilities are transmitted in order to become independent
- families, with the aim of enabling them to become self-sufficient and create the right climate for their children to grow up
- lastly, activities involve the community, through the engagement of its own members, to create an environment in which children needs are met and socio-economic strengthening is a reality.
Hence the PACOME approach (French acronym for PArents, COMmunautés, Écoles), a partnership between parents, schools, and communities. Indeed, the organisation collaborates with other community actors, including health centres, financial institutions, religious organisations, civil society organisations and local authorities.
The commitment of 82 community volunteers allows staff and partners in the field to enter people's homes, work closely with beneficiaries, then follow individual paths and learn about critical issues in the areas of intervention.
Within this framework, AVSI Rwanda extends its partnerships beyond the stakeholders to include environmental organizations and initiatives that promote sustainable practices. By engaging with environmental actors, the PACOME approach instils a sense of environmental responsibility and awareness among parents, schools, and communities.
