VZCZCXYZ0015
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLGB #0250/01 0681128
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091128Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3880
INFO RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1553
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 0802

UNCLAS KIGALI 000250 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/EPS: JPOTASH 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USTR: WJACKSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA UPDATE FOR 2007 PRESIDENT'S REPORT ON AGOA 
 
REF: STATE 22438 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  In accordance with reftel, the following 
provides an update for the 2007 President's Report on AGOA 
for Rwanda. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  Market Economy:  The government has established important 
oversight for managing the economic health of the country, 
including tax collection, banking, trade agreements, 
anti-corruption, and fiscal policy.  Almost 90% of the 
population remains in subsistence agriculture, but the 
government is also emphasizing the importance of promoting 
private investment, particularly foreign, as an engine of 
development.  The government has implemented several 
initiatives to increase investment and exports.  The Rwandan 
Investment and Export Promotion Agency has developed 
information materials, organized trade fairs domestically and 
abroad, and established assistance offices in Rwanda to 
encourage and assist investors.  Agri-business and mining 
drive the exports, and tourism shows promise for the future, 
but Rwanda's economy remains challenged by its geography, 
small market, and high energy costs. 
 
Trade Liberalization: There are no significant trade barriers 
that affect the importation of goods and services to Rwanda, 
and the government is continuing toward further 
liberalization.  The government continues to be extremely 
open to and encouraging of US investment.  Few parastatals 
remain to be privatized, and the government appears committed 
doing so in a transparent manner.  Many commercial laws, 
including the establishment of a commercial court system, are 
still in the development stages, which render a few existing 
disputes unresolved. 
 
¶3.  Political Pluralism:  In 2003, President Kagame was 
elected to a seven-year term, with 95 percent of the vote, 
and members of Parliament were also elected.  In February 
2006, local officials were elected to five-year terms in 
elections at the cell, sector, and district levels, with the 
Kigali City election held on March 4.  The next legislative 
elections will be held in 2008, Presidential elections in 
2010, and local elections in 2011.  The 2003 presidential and 
legislative elections were peaceful but marred by 
irregularities.  The most recent elections were generally 
considered free and fair, with no indication of coercion, 
harassment, or intimidation of voters. 
 
¶4.  Rule of Law: The government continues to make efforts to 
strengthen the independence and capacity of the judiciary. 
In 2004, the regular courts were inoperative for ten months 
due to substantial reforms, including the 
dismissal/replacement of many judges and the training of 
court personnel.  The government has plans to increase the 
presence of lawyers throughout the country, to improve access 
to legal services, and to establish circuit courts throughout 
the country, to reduce the backlog of pending cases.  A new 
legal training institute was due to begin operation in March 
¶2006. 
 
¶5.  Anti-Corruption: The extent of corruption in Rwanda is 
limited due, in part, to the government's active efforts to 
combat it.  In 2003, it established the Ombudsman's Office 
and the Auditor General's Office to investigate corruption 
within government, focus on corruption prevention, and review 
financial disclosure reports of senior government officials 
to ensure transparency and accountability.  The government 
has provided training to the National Police to improve 
professionalism and to promote respect for rule of law. 
 
¶6.  Poverty Reduction:  The government has made efforts, with 
measurable results, to reduce poverty and to improve access 
to health care and education, despite its severely limited 
resources. Under its national policy of universal primary 
education, the government provides free primary education to 
all children.  A joint government-donor task force is 
focusing on improvement of girls' education.  The government 
is attempting to improve access to health care through 
greater decentralization to ensure adequate health services 
at the local level.  Rwanda's Poverty Reduction Growth 
Facility programs, which are tied to the successful 
cancellation of multi-lateral debt, are considered on track 
by the IMF. 
 
¶7.  Labor:  Rwanda has ratified all eight of the core ILO 
Conventions, including ILO Convention 138 on minimum age and 
ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor. 
Rwandan law provides all salaried workers, including some 
civil servants, with the right to form and join labor unions 
without prior authorization, and workers exercised this right 
in practice.  While all unions must register for official 
recognition, there were no reports of the government denying 
recognition.  The law prohibits unions from having political 
affiliations and from publicly expressing political opinions. 
 It also provides for collective bargaining, but this right 
was severely limited in practice.  In November 2005, the 
government created a National Labor Council with equal 
representation from government, employers, and labor unions. 
 
¶8.  Child Labor: Except for subsistence agricultural workers, 
the law prohibits children under the age of 16 from working 
outside of the household without their parents' or guardians' 
permission, though child labor remains common in the 
agricultural sector.  Children are trafficked internally for 
commercial sexual exploitation, and domestic work.   The 
government recently released its Youth Employment Policy, 
which outlines its plans to conduct a child labor study, 
strategies for withdrawal of children involved in child 
labor, and mechanisms for prevention.  The government 
supports two U.S. DOL-funded regional projects targeting 
child soldiers and children affected by HIV/AIDS and several 
UNICEF-funded projects to combat child prostitution and child 
labor. 
ARIETTI