PPIMA IV 2020-2024

PPIMA IV provides a platform for citizens to influence local and national policies through the citizen participation mechanism Community Score Card (CSC), which NPA and partners have rolled out and implemented in 19 districts. It gives support for policy advocacy work by civil society and provides capacity development of civil society organisations in the area of governance and human rights. It has also included substantial support to other local level mechanism with connection to citizen participation, like safe spaces for women and alternative dispute resolution (ADR), but have been or are in the process of phasing out. The programme has a strong gender mainstreaming approach, with actions to facilitate for women's participation in the CSC process as well as help in CSO partners with their gender mainstreaming capacities. Also, in the last years the integration of environment and climate has been strengthened, including by "greening the CSC" and a number of natural resources related research and advocacy initiatives by CSO partners. The PPIMA programme implementation during 2023 was notably characterized by the shift towards sustaining specific gains ahead of the close out of phase IV in 2024. There was significant progress regarding the Community Score Card (CSC) institutionalisation process: In February 2023, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) in its budget circular explicitly urged districts to use the CSC as one of the best available approaches for inclusive planning. This signals the willingness and first steps by the Government towards the possible institutionalisation of the CSC. The SDC-funded NPA & Never Aagain Rwanda (NAR) study Assessing the effectiveness of citizen participation practices in Rwanda established that out of the several citizen participation modalities in practice, PPIMAs CSC has the best potential to be widely adopted. It was complemented 2024 by an operational guideline, the National Guidelines for Citizen Participation in Rwanda, which is expected to be validated and adopted by the Government. The ongoing development of the Governance & Decentralisation Sector Strategic Plan (SSP) has placed significant emphasis on citizen participation and explicitly recognizes the CSC as a model to build on. (Nb! The SSP is yet to be finalized and final wording is thus not set). In the operational level, two more districts were phased out from PPIMA support to CSC implementation, and in many of them it continued to run by the community volunteers facilitating citizen participation (Governance Focal Persons, GFPs) supported by local government. A total of 4,097 volunteers were trained by PPIMA, including the re-training of 1,704 existing GFPs. Re-trainings will eventually cover all 19 districts where PPIMA has been implemented. Figures from 2023 shows the effect of CSC. A total of some 240 000 citizens participated in the CSC. They raised some 15 000 issues, out of which some 36% were successfully addressed, which is the highest share so far during PPIMA IV. Some 6 percent were incorporated in the district plans for the fiscal year 2023/2024. The national level advocacy suppored by PPIMA was successful in several cases, for example: - CLADHO influencing national budgeting based on citizen priorities was successful. Approx 79% of the 940 citizen priorities raised through the CSC process to national level were plugged into the 2023/2024 fiscal year plans and budgets. These included construction works, water and electricity connectivity, among others. - For the first time in Rwanda, a CSO has been able to win a public interest litigation case when PPIMA partner Great Lakes Initiative for Human rights and Development (GLIDH) won two separate eviction cases by providing guidance to residents forcefully expropriated without compensation. - As in previous years, TI-Rwanda's evidence based advocacy was successful, with GoR entities being exceptionally responsive. According to the Rwanda Bribery Index (RBI) 2023, conducted by the TI-Rw, the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) registered the highest likelihood of bribery among public institutions, which led to the responsibilities of issuing licenses for public transport being transferred from RURA to the districts. TI-Rws advocacy work to safeguard womens rights in the mining sector, the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum, and Gas Board (RMB) made commitments to improving the working environment for both female and male miners including separate toilets and spaces for for nursing mothers, requiring companies to have a grievance mechanism for reporting sexual exploitation, and to establish Early Childhood Development centres around mining sites. The cumulative target of GoR commitments based PPIMA-facilitated advocacy initiatives has been exceeded, as some 5000 commitments were made in 2023.

Although the Government of Rwanda (GoR) promotes civic participation in guiding frameworks, GoR leaders are not accustomed to meaningfully engaging citizens in prioritization, planning and assessment processes and tend to regard citizen participation forums as a place to tell and inform rather than to listen and respond to citizens. Additionally, while several policies and legal frameworks exist to address inequality and prevent discrimination, knowledge of these is lacking at decentralised levels and implementation is often poor, resulting in disparities in citizens’ access to their rights and appropriate services that will enable them to live in a more just and equal society. The proposed programme aims to see local and national government leaders purposefully consult their constituency to inform decisions, be responsive to citizens’ concerns, include a gender perspective in planning and budgeting and address the specific needs of vulnerable and marginalized groups. The specific outcomes are the following: - Civil Society partners are more effective in their work to influence and mobilize. This means that by the end of the programme PO's have been trained in policy analysis and organisational issues, that PO's have been supported on strategies and work to influence by alliances and that PO's have developed plans/strategies for improving influence and organisational strategies.  - Citizens acted and participated in decision-making for their rights. This means that by the end of the programme citizens and duty bearers have knowledge about accessing their rights and responsibilities. Female community representatives have knowledge about policies, government programmes, law and rights. People have accessed support to resolve conflict and violation of rights. Decision-making foras have been facilitated. Professionals and para-professionals are enabled to provide assistance on conflict prevention and mediation practices and finally that women, men, girls and boys have knowledge on gender discrimination and how to prevent it. - Local and national government have formulated policies and plans that reflect the concerns raised by citizens and gender equality considerations. This means that by the end of the programme that decision-makers are informed and challenged on policy and service delivery issues, gender discrimination, and issues reported by citizens and vulnerable groups. Decision-makers’ and local leaders are capacitated by partners on citizen engagement, justice and equality. Decision-makers are also informed through documentation and research.