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Make a real difference...
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to communities across Africa.
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Rwanda,
with its population of 12.95 million (2020), is situated
just south of the Equator and bordered by
Uganda to its north, Tanzania to its east,
Burundi to its south and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo to its west. A former German colony, Rwanda became under the control of Belgium after the
First World War and became independent in 1962. As with other emerging
independent African nations, politics was divided into tribal factions and, following the assassination of President Habyarimana in 1994, ongoing ethnic tensions
between the Hutu and Tutsi population erupted in a mass slaughter that led to
the killing of an estimated half to one million Rwandans, the equivalent of one
in five of the then entire population including 300,000 of its own children.
At the time 80% of all children had lost at least one family member. Tens of thousands fled the country for safety and those who did return, did so to broken and distrustful communities where just a few years before neighbours had been killing neighbours. It is difficult to contemplate how any country could sink so far into
genocide that over three million of its own children were left orphaned or vulnerable. Despite this bloodbath, Rwanda is now respected as one of the
most stable African nations. Yet the mass genocide of the early
1990s has deeply scarred it's soul with one survey finding that
a troubling 60% of children did not care if
they ever grew up because of their past.
The government of Rwanda is
outwardly committed to a peaceful existence and is working with other countries and
organisations to build a better future being one of the few nations that made significant progress towards its Millennium Goals for 2015, although the infant mortality rate remained higher than its target as did young people's knowledge of AIDS. Extreme poverty also declined, but not to its target level and while today young children are generally receiving sufficient food on average, the extent of stunting suggests that it is not the right food. Despite this, malnutrition rates are falling.
Rwanda is in 160th place out of 189 countries and territories in 2019 when
ranked in terms of life expectancy, literacy, access to knowledge and the living
standards of a country with a life expectancy of 69.02 years (2019). Poverty in Rwanda is still significant with around 39% of the population living below the poverty line. One contributing factor is that Rwanda suffers from a poor education system where only 68% of first-graders end up completing all six years of primary education. About 80% of Rwandans are dependent on the land for their living although, as
farms are split as they are handed down through the generations, farming is
becoming increasingly fragmented and around one hundred thousand children
work the land to achieve some form of living. For more about Rwanda check out our
Rwanda profile pages below.
Rwanda Profile: Volunteer in Rwanda
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Rwanda Profile: Rwanda History
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Rwanda Profile: Rwanda Genocide
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Rwanda Profile: Life In Rwanda
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Rwanda Profile: Rwanda Children
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Rwanda Profile: Rwanda Images
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Rwanda Profile: Lake Kivu
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Rwanda Profile: Rwanda Quiz
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Rwanda Profile: Rwanda Gorilla
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Rwanda Profile: Kigali Profile
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Rwanda Profile: Kigali Airport
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Rwanda Profile: Child Sponsor Rwanda
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Rwanda Profile: Rwanda Map
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Rwanda Profile: Rwanda News
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