SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda enlarges its services through Kura Umenye Programme in Bugesera, Musanze, Huye and Rwamagana Districts. The expansion of the services of child care and family strengthening program comes after its decades of child care intervention in Gicumbi, Nyamagabe, Kayonza and GasaboDistricts.

SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda through Kura Umenye Programme aims to strengthen families through economic empowerment, parenting skill development and targeted service delivery to ensure access to essential services such as education, healthcare and improving young people’s access to sexual reproductive health services and psychosocial support interventions in ten districts.

Likely, families will be introduced and supported by the village savings and loan associations through which they economically become self-reliant for they are able to take care of their children.

Furthermore, the four-year Program will build the capacity of the existing child protection structures, friends of family (IZUs), health workers and school mentors and caregivers so they give quality care to their vulnerable children. Equally important, the program will focus on remedial learning systems strengthening through which the national remedial learning roll-out will be enhanced for the improvement of the academic performance of the vulnerable underperformer primary four, five and six children in public schools.
Among the program services include the implementation of a community-based rehabilitation approach for 1,250 street children, economic empowerment through a revolving system of one cow per vulnerable family targeting 500 households to improve food security and provision of education support to 1,000 children and young people (school fees, uniforms and scholastic materials).
Indeed, the program through family strengthening, will provide 500 small animals (pigs, goats, rabbits, lambs, chicken) for animal husbandry based on needs assessment, support 800 caregivers with farming seeds (beans, Irish potatoes) for food security and support 262 young people with vocational technical pieces of training based on needs assessment and provision of start-up kits to graduates, establish remedial learning classes in 120 schools with a target of 32,000 children from 4,800 caregivers and 480 teacher mentors, providing school-based counseling and ASRHR interventions through health clubs in 120 schools with a target of 32,000 children and young people.
It will also support the organization of community outreach activities related to SRHR and mental health & psychosocial related issues among children, capacity building of 240 teacher mentors and 360 members of SMCs and PTCs to provide psychosocial support to vulnerable children and young people and train 123 mental health practitioners (IZUs &CHW) on narrative therapy and community work to help children with mental related issues.
Testimonies of the district mayors who will be benefited by the Programme
Ramuli Janvier, the Mayor of Musanze District welcomed SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda and he narrated that Musanze District waited for a long time the intervention of SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda given their importance to the community
“We have witnessed the SOS Children’s Villages interventions in our neighboring district Gicumbi and we realized that they were very effective following the testimonies from the beneficiaries. Our districts mainly those districts that will be benefited from the program are lucky. “Janvier says.

He added that Musanze District needs support, especially in remedial learning and family strengthening.

Additionally, he said, “Most of the children from vulnerable families need support to move on, however, they are many compared to the number one is supposed to support. We hope to receive more projects in our district to support the vulnerable families to eradicate poverty that affects the wellbeing of the children.”
Similarly, Richard Mutabazi, the mayor of Bugesera District said that SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda is a reliable partner to work with and most of the children will benefit from the program.

The Director-General of Social Development and Good Governance in Kigali City, Mr. Jean Paul Munyandamutsa emphasized that SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda will help children who are abandoned and neglected by their families.

Seconded by Jean Bosco Kwizera, the National Director of SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda explained that SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda will continue to take care of children who lost parental care and those families who struggle to raise their children.

Kwizera also echoed, “Children need more support to grow up in a loving and secure family however, this requires efforts from everyone. SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda will continue to strengthen effective partnerships for the better future of our children.”

According to the National Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (2015/16), 42% of boys and 26% of girls aged 13-17 have been victims of physical violence, while 12% of girls and 5% of boys aged 13-17 reported exposure to sexual violence.