VZCZCXRO1088
PP RUEHTRO
DE RUEHLGB #0525/01 2380609
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 260609Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6252
INFO RUEHSB/AMEMBASSY HARARE 0307
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 0001
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 0034

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KIGALI 000525 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR H: PLEASE PASS TO CODEL MEEKS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID KDEM PGOV PREL RW
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR CODEL MEEKS 
 
Welcome and Introduction 
------------------------ 
¶1. (SBU) Mission warmly welcomes CODEL Meeks to Rwanda.  The 
U.S. Government partners closely with Rwanda on a wide 
range of bilateral, regional and global issues such as 
fighting 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 $236 
million in development and military assistance in FY08 and an 
estimated $214 million in FY09.  During your stay, you will 
have the opportunity to speak with senior Rwandans on key 
issues related to economic development, visit an innovative 
health program site, and visit the principal genocide 
memorial. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Although Rwanda is a stable country, it is still 
struggling to overcome the legacy of the 1994 genocide when 
Rwandans killed an estimated one million of their fellow 
citizens and gravely damaged the nation's infrastructure, 
economy and society.  Many measures of social progress fell 
precipitously.  This past April, the Government of Rwanda 
(GOR) commemorated the 15th anniversary of the tragedy. 
Since the genocide ended, the economy has largely recovered 
and 
the Government of Rwanda (GOR) has adopted an ambitious set 
of development goals, seeking to become the "Singapore of 
Africa." The GOR remains deeply committed to educating its 
people and expanding nationwide 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.  Yet much 
remains to be done if Rwanda is to meet the aspirations of 
its 
overwhelmingly young and 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 development assistance.  End introduction. 
 
 
Economic Development and US Investment 
-------------------------------------- 
¶3. (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).  Eighty-five 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. 
 
¶4. (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, although 
the growth rate is projected to slow to 5.3% for 2009. 
Inflation climbed to over 20 percent last year but in recent 
months has dropped to approximately 10 percent. 
Coffee, tea and minerals dominate the export sector, 
representing $200 million, or 70 percent of total exports 
in 2008.  Tourism earned an additional $243 million in 
foreign exchange during the year.  Additionally, the GOR 
Qforeign 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.  The government has worked hard to improve 
infrastructure throughout the country and maintains a low 
corruption rate relative to neighboring countries. 
 
¶5. (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 
 
KIGALI 00000525  002 OF 004 
 
 
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 U.S. investment group for approximately USD 15 million 
(making it the second US-owned tea estate in Rwanda).  The 
New York-based Christies Real Estate development firm is in 
the final stages of negotiating a $250 million 
build-operate-transfer agreement with the government and the 
National University of Rwanda. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Poverty Reduction:  The GOR has made strong 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. 
 
¶7. (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 4200 
tons of specialty coffee in 2008.  In July, Starbucks opened 
a Farmers Support Center in Rwanda, the first such center 
in Africa. 
 
 
Health 
------ 
¶8. (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 345, and voluntary counseling and testing from 44 
to 381.  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. 
FY09 PEPFAR funding for Rwanda is nearly $123 million.  FY10 
funding is expected to be at similar levels.  The Rwanda 
Qfunding is expected to be at similar levels.  The Rwanda 
Defense Force (RDF) has been a leader in HIV/AIDS programs 
for military forces in Africa, and has several innovative 
programs underway to protect its men and women. 
 
¶9. (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.  Currently, a spraying campaign is under 
way that will treat 275,000 houses or more than 1.3 million 
people (more than 10 percent of the population).  PMI 
funding in FY08 was $17 million; FY09 funding is similar at 
 
KIGALI 00000525  003 OF 004 
 
 
$16.3 million.  The Mission also implements 
successful programs in child survival, maternal and child 
health, reproductive health and family planning.  In FY09, 
$15.5 million is allocated for these programs. 
 
 
Democracy and Governance Assistance 
----------------------------------- 
¶10. (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 recently 
initiated 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. 
 
¶11. (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 young people to take an active role 
contributing to peace and reconciliation in their 
communities.  A new project implemented by the National 
Democratic Institute is working with political parties to 
build their capacity for the 2010 elections. 
 
 
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 widely expected to compete for and win 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, despite irregularities.  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 restrictions on a free press, a 
judicial system still hampered by capacity limitations, and 
heavy regulation of civil society organizations. 
Recently-adopted legislation on the press may have a mixed 
effect on media freedom; parliament is also considering 
legislation on the activities of religious groups as well as 
local and international NGOs. 
 
¶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 
Q"gacaca courts," a traditional system modernized and 
expanded by the GOR.  The approximately 3000 gacaca courts 
have adjudicated roughly 90 percent of the pending cases, 
and the gacaca service hopes to finish all cases including 
appeals by early 2010.  The GOR decreed in 2007 that gacaca 
prisoners would serve their suspended and community service 
sentences first, and return to prison at a later date. 
Since this decision, the formerly large prison population has 
diminished, alleviating crowded and unsustainable 
conditions.  While a small number of the most serious 
genocide offenders, including the leadership and organizers, 
are tried at the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda 
(ICTR) and will continue to face judgment by regular 
courts, the gacaca courts represent the GOR's principal 
attempt to deal with overwhelming numbers of alleged 
perpetrators as well as to achieve justice and 
reconciliation--a difficult balance, given Rwanda's history 
 
KIGALI 00000525  004 OF 004 
 
 
of internal divisions.  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 collaborating to combat the 
sources of regional instability.  In August, the two heads 
of state held their first summit in years, both symbolizing 
and reinforcing this trend.  The Rwandan and Congolese 
energy ministers followed up the summit with a high-level 
meeting to discuss joint exploitation of methane gas 
reserves in Lake Kivu, which the two countries share.  And in 
early 2009, Rwanda and the Congo conducted a joint 
military campaign that helped build confidence between their 
governments and respective populations, and achieved 
some successes against the Democratic Forces for the 
Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group and descendant 
of the former, genocidaire Rwandan government.  During the 
campaign, Rwandan and Congolese troops killed or captured 
over 750 FDLR fighters, many of whom returned voluntarily to 
Rwanda under a demobilization/reintegration program. 
The FDLR, however, remains a threat and has regained some of 
the territory it ceded 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 highly 
competent RDF now ranks as the sixth-largest troop 
contributor to UN peacekeeping operations worldwide.  An 
experienced RDF officer recently assumed command of the 
United Nations African Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), where the 
RDF currently has four battalions (3200 troops). 
Another 254 RDF troops are in Khartoum under the UN Mission 
in Sudan (UNMIS).  The USG has provided logistical and 
training support for Rwandan peacekeeping efforts in Sudan 
since 2004.  American contractors under the Africa 
Contingency Operations Training Assistance (ACOTA) program 
(Rwanda became a full ACOTA partner in June 2006) have 
trained nearly twenty battalions in preparation for the 
Darfur deployments.  We provided $30 million in 2008 in new 
equipment for these battalions, and helped establish a 
peacekeeping simulation center.  The USG has airlifted 
Rwandan 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. 
 
MINIMIZE CONSIDERED 
 
SYMINGTON