Gakenke, 4^th February 2022: Minister of State in charge of Social Affairs in the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC), Hon. Assumpta Ingabire, accompanied by the Director-General of Local Administrative Entities Development Agency (LODA), Mrs. Claudine Nyinawagaga, Mayor of Gakenke District Nizeyimana Jean Marie Vianney, Spark Microgrants team led by the Country Director Nsabimana Gilbert, visited Gatoki Village in Busengo Sector, Gakenke District to assess the progress of the Advancing Citizen Engagement (ACE) project implementation status, understand the roles of different partners and interact with village members on their development programs.

In her remarks, Minister Ingabire commended the efforts being exerted by different partners for the successful implementation of the ACE project. The Minister appreciated Spark Microgrants for the project and different initiatives aiming at improving the livelihoods of different villages in Rwanda.

She said that Spark Microgrants is a good partner of the Government of Rwanda working at ensuring that communities are involved in local initiatives contributing to the social and economic development of local communities. “The Government and its partners work together for the development of villages in remote areas and build communities without hunger or poverty. I take this opportunity to thank Spark Microgrants for the good work of enabling different communities to design and implement their social impact projects”, Minister Ingabire said.

Ingabire encouraged Gatoki villagers to take advantage of Spark Microgrants support to generate further economic benefits that are key enablers for their village to achieve a significant decrease in poverty, hunger, school dropout, and other development challenges.

“The Spark Microgrants support comes at the right moment to complement other Government initiatives aiming at facilitating the population accessing basic needs including access to energy, adequate water, basic education, good healthcare, hygienic sanitation which are a key to economic prosperity and enhanced quality of life”, she emphasized. “Please take these meetings as an opportunity to identify local development opportunities that will guide Gatoki village to sustainable development”, she added.

The Director-General of LODA, Mrs. Claudine Nyinawagaga, noted that the Government works with its decentralized entities and partners for the citizen-centered governance approach whereby socio-economic development initiatives are selected by the village members.

“I believe that this participatory planning process involving citizens from village level will help you to maximize the productivity from Spark Microgrants support and ensure that the selected projects are progressing well and in accordance with your expectations”, she asked local residents. Mrs. Nyinawagaga thanked the parasocial workers who work with villagers to ensure that the village get access to basic social services and manage their own social and economic development. 

Mayor of Gakenke district NIZEYIMANA Jean Marie Vianney thanked Spark Microgrants for supporting the local population of Gakenke district in addressing development challenges through the FCAP process which increased local ownership among key players.

Gatoki is one of 38 villages in the Byibuhiro cell, Busengo sector. Since the ACE project started in Gatoki in July 2021, an average of 122 household members attend weekly meetings. Meetings are facilitated by the Parasocial workers, namely community-based facilitators (CBFs), who have been trained by their Social Economic Development Officers (SEDO). The CBFs, commonly known as Inyenyeri, are elected by village members to facilitate village meetings  and help the village to plan and manage their own development. 

Gatoki has developed a village vision of a “Village with no hunger”, with the specific goal to improve food security across the village by 2023. To achieve this goal, the community brainstormed five potential projects which they could invest in using the village Grant from the ACE project and decided to invest in a pig rearing project. They expect to increase agriculture production based on manure availability and get extra income from selling pigs for meat. 

The village members started savings groups to help them with their own projects and to meet basic needs. Collectively, they have saved RwF 13,200. Before The ACE project, women’s participation in village meetings was 20% but now it has increased to 60%. 

The Village is committed to working together and achieving more in their development. The village is currently working on its Microgrant proposal development  for the pig project and expect to get the microgrant in April 2022.