VZCZCXYZ0007
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLGB #0314/01 1411535
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211535Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6085
INFO RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 1355
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0036
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 1475
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0239

UNCLAS KIGALI 000314 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR H: PLEASE PASS TO CODEL ISAKSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID KDEM PGOV PREL RW
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR CODEL ISAKSON 
 
Welcome and Introduction 
------------------------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Mission warmly welcomes CODEL Isakson to Rwanda. 
Your visit to Rwanda comes at an excellent time in 
U.S.-Rwandan relations.  The U.S. Government has a deep 
partnership with Rwanda on a wide range of bilateral, 
regional and global issues such as fighting the spread of the 
global scourges of HIV/AIDS and malaria, expanding economic 
development, and assisting Rwanda's democratic structures. 
Rwandans deeply appreciate that the United States is the 
largest bilateral aid donor operating in Rwanda, with over 
$234 million in development and military assistance in FY08. 
In the course of your stay, you will have the opportunity to 
speak with senior Rwandans on key development and health 
issues, work with average Rwandans on a community improvement 
project, visit an innovative health program site, and visit 
the principal genocide memorial. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Although Rwanda is a highly stable country, it is 
still struggling to overcome the legacy of the devastating 
1994 genocide when upwards of one million Rwandans lost their 
lives, and the nation's infrastructure, economy and society 
were terribly damaged.  Many measure of social progress fell 
precipitously.  In April, the Government commemorated the 
15th anniversary of the tragedy.  The Rwandan government 
(GOR) remains deeply committed to educating its people, and 
expanding nation-wide access to health care with the help of 
the USG's PEPFAR and President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) 
programs.  It seeks to forge national unity through the 
reconciliation of Rwanda's ethnic groups.  It has made great 
strides in restoring security and establishing the 
underpinnings for a developing democracy.  The economy has 
been largely rebuilt and Rwanda is seeking to position itself 
as "the Singapore of Africa."  Yet much remains to be done if 
Rwanda is to meet the aspirations of its growing population. 
We are working with the Government of Rwanda (GOR) to 
implement a three-year, $25 million Millennium Challenge 
Corporation (MCC) Threshold Country Plan, as a potential 
prelude to a full MCC compact of economic assistance.  End 
introduction. 
 
Health 
------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) Global Health:  Rwanda is one of 15 "focus 
countries" under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS 
Relief (PEPFAR).  The national HIV prevalence rate is 
approximately 3.0 percent (3.6 percent for women, 2.3 percent 
for men).  A 2005 survey suggests that women are contracting 
HIV/AIDS at a younger age than men, and that for both sexes 
prevalence in urban areas is approximately three times higher 
than in rural areas.  Through PEPFAR and Global Fund support, 
Rwanda has increased the number of facilities offering 
services for prevention of mother-to-child transmission from 
53 to 318, and voluntary counseling and testing from 44 to 
¶3345.  Rwanda has achieved 70 percent coverage of those in 
need of anti-retroviral treatment.  This is one of the 
highest rates in sub-Saharan Africa, and can be directly 
linked to the significant geographic expansion of HIV/AIDS 
services.  Rwanda has also completed a national roll-out of 
performance-based financing as an incentive for improved 
health care delivery, and built the capacity of local 
organizations to manage and implement HIV/AIDS programs. 
FY08 PEPFAR funding for Rwanda exceeded $123 million.  FY09 
funding is expected to be at similar levels.  The RDF has 
been a leader in HIV/AIDS programs for military forces in 
Qbeen a leader in HIV/AIDS programs for military forces in 
Africa, and has several innovative programs underway to 
protect its men and women. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Malaria: In addition, Rwanda is a President's 
Malaria Initiative (PMI) country.  In 2006, the number of 
uncomplicated malaria cases treated in public sector health 
facilities was 1.3 million.  By mid-FY08, it decreased to 
900,000 cases.  Given this reduced incidence malaria has now 
dropped down to third place as the leading cause of 
morbidity and mortality among children under five in Rwanda. 
Much of this success is attributed to the use of 
indoor-residual spraying and insecticide-treated bed nets 
funded by USAID.  During FY08, a spraying campaign treated 
200,000 houses or more than 900,000 people (approximately 10 
percent of the population).  PMI funding for in FY08 was $17 
million; FY09 funding is expected at similar levels.  The 
Mission also implements successful programs in child 
survival, maternal and child health, reproductive health and 
family planning.  These programs have annual budgets of $11.8 
million. 
 
Democracy and Governance Assistance 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Millennium Challenge Corporation Country Threshold 
 
Program: Rwanda was selected in 2006 for the Threshold 
program.  The GOR Country Plan was approved by the MCC 
Investment Committee in July 2008; the final agreement was 
signed in October 2008.  USAID is in the process of procuring 
four projects (supporting the police, strengthening the 
media, aiding civic participation, and developing the justice 
sector) to implement the three-year, $25 million Threshold 
Country Program.  The Program is intended to improve Rwanda's 
scores on three MCC Ruling Justly indicators: civil 
liberties, political rights and voice and accountability. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Democracy and Governance Programs:  IN addition to 
the Threshold program, other USG programs focus on local 
government and reconciliation. We are supporting 
decentralized governance through an innovative program to 
achieve health and governance objectives by acting to improve 
local government's capacity to manage funds and deliver high 
quality health services.  This program is complemented by 
capacity building programs for local civil society 
organizations.  On rule of law issues, we are helping the 
Ministry of Justice and other government officials to improve 
the quality of draft legislation.  We also support provision 
of legal aid services to the poor and other vulnerable 
groups, helping to ensure equitable access to justice.  We 
have funded youth radio for peace and reconciliation through 
a Great Lakes regional initiative that has enabled youth to 
take an active role contributing to peace and reconciliation 
in their communities.  A new project implemented by the 
National Democratic Institute (NDI) is working with political 
parties to build their capacity for the 2010 elections. 
 
Economic Development and US Investment 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Economic Development:  Fifteen years after the 
genocide, daunting development challenges remain.  The 
Rwandan economy is small and relatively isolated.  There is 
poor infrastructure and a lack of a trained workforce.  The 
economy remains largely dependent upon foreign aid (roughly 
half of its budget comes from donors).  85 percent of 
families earn their living through subsistence agriculture 
and a majority of households live below the poverty line of 
250 Rwandan francs a day (about $0.45). The recent world-wide 
economic downturn has begun to affect Rwandan exports, reduce 
remittances, and impact tourist revenues.  The GOR is working 
with the IMF and the donor community to proactively address 
the financial and economic impact of the crisis. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Nonetheless, Rwanda achieved an average GDP growth 
rate of 6 percent over the past six years.  In 2008, the GDP 
grew 11.2 percent to approximately $4 billion.  Inflation has 
risen substantially given high energy costs and arge donor 
inflows, though efforts to reduce the cost of electricity are 
underway.  Exports are dominated by coffee, tea nd minerals 
which in 2008 represented $200 million, or 70 percent of 
total exports.  Tourism earned an additional $243 million in 
foreign exchange during the year.  Additionally, the GOR 
seeks to establish Rwanda as a regional economic hub bridging 
the Francophone west and Anglophone east.  It has achieved 
major improvements in the areas of tax collection, banking, 
trade agreements, anti-corruption, and fiscal policy.  It has 
Qtrade agreements, anti-corruption, and fiscal policy.  It has 
improved infrastructure throughout the country, and 
maintained a low corruption rate relative to neighboring 
countries. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) U.S. Investment: In February 2008, President Bush 
and President Kagame signed a Bilateral Investment Treaty 
aimed at encouraging investment and trade between the United 
States and Rwanda. In March 2009, American energy company 
Contour Global signed a $325 million project with the GOR to 
extract methane gas from Lake Kivu to provide 100MW of 
electricity to the national grid.  This is the largest 
foreign private sector investment in Rwanda's history and 
promises to significantly improve the availability and cost 
of electricity.  Other American investments include interest 
in tea, coffee, and mining, including the recent purchase of 
the Karongi Tea Estate by a US investment group for 
approximately USD 15 million (making it the second US-owned 
tea estate in Rwanda). 
¶10.  (SBU) Poverty Reduction:  The GOR has made efforts, with 
measurable results, to reduce poverty, despite its severely 
limited resources.  It has focused considerable resources and 
attention on the agricultural sector, improving farm 
production and income, and greatly enhanced the quality of 
farm to market roads and the distribution of health centers 
and schools in rural areas.  It has also implemented plans 
for the prevention, protection, and reintegration of the 
7,000 street children in the country (out of 4.8 million 
children).  These include vocational training to promote 
self-reliance through development of income-generating 
skills.  Rwanda completed the Highly Indebted Poor Country 
(HIPC) debt relief initiative and the Multilateral Debt 
Relief Initiative in 2006.  Completion of these two debt 
initiatives significantly reduced its overall debt, freeing 
significant funds for social programs.  Rwanda continues to 
face challenges to food security from cyclic rainfall 
shortages. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Coffee: U.S. support for coffee production has 
transformed the sector.  Over the past eight years, the USG 
has invested an estimated $12 million in promoting and 
developing the Rwandan coffee industry, building and 
rehabilitating coffee washing stations, training farmers and 
"cuppers" (coffee tasters), organizing cooperatives, 
encouraging banks to lend to Rwandan investors to build 
coffee washing stations, and improving rural infrastructure. 
Today, Rwandan coffee has become known as one of the "best of 
the best" coffees in the world.  Rwanda exported 4,200 tons 
of specialty coffee in 2008. 
 
Domestic Issues 
--------------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Political Issues:  In 2003, President Kagame was 
elected to a seven-year term with 95 percent of the vote. 
He is eligible to compete for one more term in 2010.  In 
September 2008, Rwanda held Parliamentary (Chamber of 
Deputies -- 80 members) elections, with the ruling Rwanda 
Patriotic Front and its six coalition partners winning 79 
percent of the vote.  Additionally, Rwanda has the highest 
percentage of women parliamentarians (55 percent) in the 
world.  The elections were peaceful and orderly, with a heavy 
turnout.  Although some constitutional and regulatory 
restrictions on political party operations remain in place, 
and use of broadly-worded criminal statutes sanctioning 
"divisionism" and "genocide ideology" concern the human 
rights community, a June 2007 law liberalized political party 
operations.  Other human rights concerns include lingering 
restrictions on a free press, a judicial system still 
hampered by capacity limitations, and a developing civil 
society that must satisfy extensive licensing requirements. 
Pending legislation may loosen many restrictions on civil 
society, and to a lesser degree on the press; their final 
form will be determined in the course of the next several 
months. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Justice and the Genocide:  Over one million 
suspected "genocidaires" (those who participated in the 1994 
genocide) are the subject of judicial inquiry by the "gacaca 
courts," a traditional system modernized and expanded by the 
GOR.  Over 99 percent of the pending cases have been 
adjudicated by approximately 3,000 gacaca courts.  The gacaca 
service is optimistic it can finish all cases including 
appeals by the end of 2009.  The GOR decreed in 2007 that 
gacaca prisoners would serve their suspended and community 
service sentences first, and return to prison at a later 
Qservice sentences first, and return to prison at a later 
date.  Since this decision, the large prison population has 
diminished, alleviating crowded and unsustainable conditions. 
 While a small number of the most serious genocide offenders 
will continue to be judged by the regular courts, the gacaca 
courts represent the principal attempt by the GOR to achieve 
justice and reconciliation -- a difficult policy balance -- 
given Rwanda's history of ethnic animosities.  It will likely 
take years to assess the impact of the gacaca trials on 
national reconciliation.  It is clear, however, that not all 
of those who were convicted of crimes are repentant. 
Addressing lingering animosity and resentment will take 
several generations. 
 
Regional Issues 
--------------- 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Relations with Neighbors: Relations between Rwanda 
and the DRC are better now than at any time in the recent 
past, with both sides seeing the benefits of collaborating to 
combat the sources of regional instability.  The joint 
January 20- February 25 military operation ("Umoja Wetu" or 
"Our Unity") had both political and military objectives. 
Politically, it reinvigorated ties between the two countries, 
which are back on track to re-establish diplomatic relations, 
and restored a level of trust and confidence between the 
governments and their respective populations.  On the 
military front, the Congolese Army (FARDC) and the Rwanda 
Defence Forces (RDF) worked well together to address the FDLR 
and lessen it as a threat to the Congolese population and to 
Rwanda.  During the five-week long operation, over 750 FDLR 
cadre were killed or returned voluntarily to Rwanda under a 
demobilization/reintegration program, which degraded the FDLR 
capabilities in North Kivu.  The FDLR, however, still has the 
capacity to be a negative force in the region and has 
regained some of the areas it lost during the joint 
operation.  The two governments continue their intensive 
bilateral discussions under what is referred to as the "Four 
Plus Four" rubric.  The USG-facilitated Tripartite-Plus Joint 
Commission, which met most recently in December 2008 in 
Kigali, continues to provide a venue for further discussions 
on regional security cooperation; the next meeting will be in 
Lubumbashi, DRC.  Elsewhere in the region, Uganda and Rwanda 
enjoy their most positive relations in years, and the 
simmering internal political problems in Burundi show signs 
of improvement. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur:  The RDF now ranks 
as the sixth largest troop contributor to UN peacekeeping 
operations worldwide.  The RDF currently has four battalions 
(3200 troops) deployed in Darfur with the United Nations 
African Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), and has 254 troops in 
Khartoum under the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).  The USG has 
been providing logistical and training support for the 
Rwandan contribution to peacekeeping efforts in Sudan since 
initial deployment in August 2004.  American contractors 
under the Africa Contingency Operations Training Assistance 
(ACOTA) program (Rwanda became a full ACOTA partner in June 
2006) have conducted training for nearly twenty battalions in 
preparation for the Darfur deployments.  We provided $30 
million in 2008 in new equipment for these battalions as well 
as established a peacekeeping simulation center.  The USG has 
provided airlift of equipment and personnel to Darfur many 
times.  The RDF has been quite critical at times of the U.N. 
bureaucracy, particularly on the subject of equipment 
transport to Darfur.  With the recent completion of Rwanda 
General Karenzi Karake's service as Deputy UNAMID Commander, 
the GOR has put forward the name of Lt. General Patrick 
Nyamvumba for the overall command slot.  He is an 
experienced, respected senior officer who in his present 
position as head of logistics for the RDF is well-acquainted 
with the mission in Darfur and the operational requirements 
and challenges. 
 
 
SIM