{"id":113852,"date":"2025-10-25T18:50:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T18:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/plan-international-rwandas-2026-30-country-strategy"},"modified":"2025-10-25T19:10:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T19:10:02","slug":"plan-international-rwandas-2026-30-country-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/plan-international-rwandas-2026-30-country-strategy","title":{"rendered":"Plan International Rwanda’s 2026\u201330 Country Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Plan International Rwanda has launched its new Country Strategy for 2026\u20132030, marking a renewed commitment to advancing children\u2019s rights, promoting gender equality, empowering youth, and pushing forward inclusive development through strong local partnerships.<\/p>\n

The ambition is anchored in Plan International\u2019s global ambition to create a just world that advances children\u2019s rights and equality for girls. The new strategy aligns closely with Rwanda\u2019s National Strategy for Transformation (NST2) and Vision 2050, as presented by the actors on Thursday, October 23.<\/p>\n

Officials noted that Rwanda\u2019s young population presents both opportunities and challenges, with 67 per cent of citizens under 30, according to the 2024 report by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, with youth unemployment standing at 20.5 per cent.<\/p>\n

Participants pose for a group photo at the event.<\/p>\n

In response, Plan International Rwanda has designed a gender-transformative, youth-centred, resilient, and locally led strategy to empower children, girls, and young people in safe and inclusive environments while delivering sustainable impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe country strategy is a key document for our organisation, setting out our ambitions in Rwanda and how we will support the government in enabling children, girls and<\/p>\n

young people to learn, lead, decide and thrive,\u201d said Emilie Fernandes, Country Director of Plan International Rwanda.<\/p>\n

Strategic goal and focus<\/p>\n

The overall goal of the 2026\u20132030 Country Strategy is to ensure that children, girls, and young people in Rwanda thrive in safe, inclusive, and resilient communities where equality is realised, and futures are secure.<\/p>\n

To achieve this plan, Fernandes said that International Rwanda will implement two integrated core programmes – Skills, Employability, Wellness, and Resilience for Youth and Families \u2013 focusing on youth employment, entrepreneurship, livelihoods, resilience, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and Foundations for Safe and Brighter Futures \u2013 dedicated to child protection, early childhood development (ECD), positive parenting, and community-based care systems.<\/p>\n

Panelists engage in a discussion during the launch<\/p>\n

\u201cThese will be underpinned by five cross-cutting themes – gender equality and inclusion, feminist leadership and youth engagement; climate resilience with digital innovation; advocacy and influencing and partnerships,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Reaching more lives through local partnerships<\/p>\n

Over the next five years, Plan International Rwanda aims to reach 1.2 million people, including 750,000 females and 450 males across Bugesera, Gatsibo, and Nyaruguru districts and through humanitarian operations in refugee camps such as Mugombwa, Kigeme, Kiziba, Nyabiheke, Mahama, and Nkamira Transit Centre, as well as Nyarushishi and Kijote Reception Centres.<\/p>\n

The organisation will also expand operations to 10 additional districts \u2014 Huye, Karongi, Kicukiro, Nyarugenge, Kirehe, Ngoma, Rulindo, Rusizi, Rwamagana, and Nyaruguru \u2014 through a partner-led approach.<\/p>\n

Plan International Rwanda has designed a gender-transformative, youth-centred, resilient, and locally led strategy to empower children, girls, and young people in safe and inclusive environments<\/p>\n

Officials noted that the new strategy will be implemented in collaboration with eight local organisations including Dream Village Organisation, Imbaraga, Caritas Rwanda, Bamporeze, Association des Guides du Rwanda (AGR), Health Development Initiative (HDI), Learn Work Develop (LWD), and African Evangelistic Enterprise (AEE).<\/p>\n

\u201cTo all partners here today, this strategy belongs to all of us. The journey towards equality for girls and the realisation of children\u2019s rights cannot be walked alone. It demands collective effort, humility, and shared purpose,\u201d said Fernandes.<\/p>\n

Consolee Uwimana, Minister of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF), commended the organisation’s commitment to channel 70 per cent of programme funding to local partners, including women, youth and disability-led organisations.<\/p>\n

Consolee Uwimana, Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, joins a traditional ballet during the celebration of the launch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI commend the support for local partners, as local ownership and sustainability are what Rwanda deeply values aligning to its journey,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour focus on social and behaviour exchange communication, youth leadership and digital innovation is also well aligned with the Rwanda vision. These are powerful tools for changing the mindset, empowering young people and strengthening the resilience of families and communities,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Uwimana noted that by supporting both girls and boys to stay in school not only reduces teenage pregnancies and youth unemployment but also nurtures a generation of parents who can make better and healthier choices for their children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI encourage Plan International and all its partners to keep working closely with the government of Rwanda to review and adapt the implementation of this new strategy regularly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on previous strategy achievements<\/p>\n

Under its outgoing 2020\u20132025 Country Strategy, Plan International Rwanda reached over 770,000 people, including approximately 467,000 girls and young women, making commendable impact across communities.<\/p>\n

Prudencienne Kamabonwa, Executive Director of the Association des Guides du Rwanda (AGR), said that over the past five years, the association has empowered girls, particularly in helping them avoid early pregnancies in Gatsibo and Nyaruguru districts through girls\u2019 groups.<\/p>\n

These initiatives, Kamabonwa said, have yielded commendable results, including strengthened self-advocacy and increased engagement with local authorities to take action.<\/p>\n

The new strategy aligns closely with Rwanda\u2019s National Strategy for Transformation (NST2) and Vision 2050, as presented by the actors on Thursday, October 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re ready to walk with them again. We want to get closer to young girls and their communities as well. We expect more collaboration and the creation of safe spaces for solutions that will come from them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Christine, 26, an agripreneur from Bugesera District, was trained through The Future is Green Project on climate-friendly farming for six months in 2022. She immediately applied the skills she gained, starting with a quarter-hectare plot where she cultivated vegetables and other crops. Over time, she was able to buy her own two-hectare piece of land using Rwf2 million from her savings and bank loans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve started involving my fellow youth in collaboration. We are now more than 30 members. We work together, save together, with over Rwf400,000 in savings and share profits from our joint farming activities. We can actually do it. Nothing is hard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis strategy gives young people a platform to shape their futures. It\u2019s about trust, trusting youth to lead, innovate, and create solutions to the challenges we face,\u201d added Ange Umutoni, member of Plan International Rwanda\u2019s Youth Advisory Panel.<\/p>\n\r\n