W eeKly B ulletin - IN TURKEY-

ISSUE 75 DATE: 30 MARCH-3 APRIL 2020 ENGLISH

President Kagame, Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente (right) and Foreign Affairs minister Dr Vincent Biruta (background) at in the capital during the virtual cabinet meeting on Wednesday, April 1st. COVID-19: Rw anda Ex tends Lock dow n by 15 Days

Rwanda has ordered a 15-day extension of the current lockdown. except for medical reasons or essential services,? it adds. ?Transport of food and essential goods will continue to function.? The decision to extend the current two-week lockdown initially declared on March 21 to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus Shops and markets selling foodstuff, hygiene and cleaning products, was reached during an extraordinary cabinet meeting held via video as well as other essential items will also remain open as has been link on Wednesday. the case over the last few days. The initial two-week lockdown was meant to end over the weekend. Also to remain open are healthcare facilities, pharmacies, and petrol stations. As has been the case over the last week and a half, movements outside one?s home are not permitted ?except for essential services Motorcycles will not be allowed to carry passengers but can serve in such as healthcare, food shopping, or banking, and for the personnel the delivery services while bars will also remain closed. performing such services?, according to a statement signed by Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente. Restaurants and cafes will continue to operate providing only takeaway services. ?Farming will continue preparation for the ongoing agricultural season B while observing the guidelines from health authorities,? the Cabinet also discussed measures to mitigate the economic impact of communique, published late Wednesday, April 1st, reads in part. COVID19 as well as ways to provide for the most vulnerable community members. It adds: ?Schools and higher education institutions (both public and private) will remain closed and are encouraged to use technology to The Minister for ICT and Innovation Paula Ingabire ?briefed cabinet continue instruction.? about technology tools being used in the fight against COVID-19 and available e-learning tools for education.? Cabinet urged employees of both public and private institutions to continue using technology to work from home with the exception of Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Rwanda rose to 82 after seven new those working in essential services. cases were announced on Wednesday. The country has not recorded any novel coronavirus death. Borders are to remain closed except for goods and cargo as well as returning citizens and legal residents who will be subject to a Globally, more than 900,000 people have so far tested positive with mandatory 14-day quarantine at designated locations, according to the deadly virus. the statement. Up to 45,000 people have lost their lives while some 200,000 have ?Travel between cities and districts in the country is not permitted recovered with a majority of those still on treatment (over 640,000) cited as mild cases. 1 ISSUE 75 DATE: 30 MARCH-3 APRIL 2020 ENGLISH

Thousands of genocide survivors have no genitalia as they were cut off or damaged completely during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi , it was announced on Sunday ? May CNLG Releases Official 2020 K w ibuk a Guidelines

The National Commission against Genocide (CNLG) has said that ?No walk to remember at the national or district levels and night vigils the 26th commemoration of genocide against the Tutsi will go on because these converge many people together and not in line with as usual but with specific guidelines in response to the current this Covid-19 period,? Bizimana emphasized. coronavirus situation in the country. These two key events will be replaced with other events. For ?Since we are in extra ordinary times of preventing spread of example the Walk To Remember will be replaced by a public talk Covid-19, the commemoration will be done in extraordinary ways,? (normally held at Gisozi site in Kigali at 3pm). said Dr. Jean Damascene Bizimana, the Executive secretary of This time, it will be broadcast live on radio and TV, with interactions CNLG. locally and internationally. Bizimana said that official event on (April 7th) will start at 10am, Then the night vigil, normally meant for testimonies, will be done where few mourners will be in attendance, to lay wreaths and pay using through live broadcasts and the media will also be able to respect to the victims buried at the site and a minute of silence show films and testimonies of success stories of survivors. observed therein. After April 7th, moving towards the 100 days, all community and institution public talks on genocide prevention will this time take Though this event will be done at Gisozi, the rest of the country place at village level and be broadcast live on national TV and radio- will stay at home to pay respect to the genocide victims buried in for one and half hours, starting at 3pm every day. various sites countrywide. Special dates in April ?The rest of the people will be following the event on TV, radio and social media, which will be vital for the media to follow up,? April 8th and 9th will be designated for the role of the youth (who Bizimana said. constitute 70% of the population) in preventing genocide, April 10th will be specifically for the media role in genocide while April 11th will This will also be followed by the address of the guest of honor, be the role of the global community in never again campaign. most likely from President Paul Kagame, which will all together These dates will be matched with areas were the genocide killings take less than thirty minutes. took place specifically. ?This obviously means that citizens and friends of Rwanda will be For example on April 10th the commemoration will focus at ETO following the address on the available channels, and get the key Kicukiro in Nyanza where thousands of Tutsi were killed at ago in the commemoration message which will also hint on the periods we eye of UN peacekeepers. are going through,? Bizimana added. All these events will be broadcast for the public to follow from home. For the commemoration to be done nationally, CNLG said that each of the districts will choose one memorial site where few Same applies to April 13th, the closing date of the official selected people will be allowed to represent the rest in laying commemoration which will see few officials attend a commemoration wreaths, pay respect to the victims buried at the respective sites of politicians killed during the genocide, an event at Rebero site and hold a minute of silence. where 14,000 are buried. After this, they will return home. On the same day, at 3pm, a talk show on the role of the world in genocide will involve Rwandans and friends of Rwanda, all giving In this year?s twist, the usual Walk To Remember which has been their views. done in the afternoon on April 7th for 25 years, followed by the commemoration night vigil, will not happen this year, according to ?We hope that this will go according to the restrictions on Covid-19,? CNLG. Bizimana said.

2 ISSUE 75 DATE: 30 MARCH-3 APRIL 2020 ENGLISH Rw anda To Deliver Free Food To 20 000 Households During Coronavirus Lock dow n

Rwanda has formulated a social protective plan for the delivery of free food to at least 20 000 households in the capital Kigali. The door-to-door delivery is meant to mitigate the impact of a lockdown implemented on March 21 by the government, aimed at limiting the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. On Friday Rwandan President Paul Kagame acknowledged that people's livelihoods had been affected by the lockdown. "We know that this is not an easy period for most Rwandans, whose

livelihoods have been interrupted A statement from the health ministry said ten additional cases of Covid-19 had been reported in Rwanda, raising across the country. But we ask you the national tally to 70. The East African country reported its first case two weeks ago. to be patient. Although we are The new infections include six people who recently travelled from Dubai, two coming back from , making good progress, we cannot one traveller from and another who had travelled in afford to relax yet,? the East Africa region. All patients are in isolation and in stable conditions, the The social protection plan would support the most vulnerable in ministry said. communities, Kagame added. ?Heightened vigilance continues to be required," it said. ?We need to speed this up. The government will continue to do "Enhanced prevention measures announced by the everything possible, to support Rwandans through this government of Rwanda must be rigorously observed; challenging time," he said. non-essential businesses are closed, travel between cities and districts is suspended and non-essential movement Kagame said he also planned to provide essential services such outside of the home are not permitted,? said the health as the supply of water and electricity for free. ministry in a statement. Rw andA ir To Commence Cargo Flights

National carrier, RwandAir is working on launching cargo flights in the coming days to respond to demand in movement of good. The airline is in the process of working out details on the new nature of the airline services in cargo which could enable Rwanda and other countries access essential goods to support supply chains as well as medical supplies. The development was confirmed by the airline?s Chief Executive Officer Yvonne Makolo. Without giving much insight to the plans noting that they were still a work in progress, Makolo said that they will not be converting passenger planes to cargo freighters as had been widely speculated. ?We?re working on that. But we won?t convert passenger planes to cargo freighters. We?ll use the available space to transport cargo shipments,? she said. The detailed plan on the new model is set to be unveiled later this A RwandAir plane at the Kigali International Airport. week. However, cargo and emergency flights continue to operate, to allow for the country to continue getting the necessary supplies, according This could among other things see the airline generate revenue to the directive. during the COVID-19 containment period as well as ensure access to basic and essential goods which are not produced locally. With a number of global supply chains affected and halted, the move to introduce cargo flights by RwandAir could also increase the The move could also serve local exporters and producers access chances of putting Rwandan products on international shelves international markets which will maintain exports and the balance of especially for products such as tea, coffee and other horticulture trade. consumables. To further mitigate the COVID-19 the outbreak, the government on With most airlines having halted all their operations, there is also 20th March halted all arriving and departing commercial passenger likely to be a demand in cargo facilities as countries seek to flights, including the national carrier RwandAir for an initial period of replenish their stocks of medicine, medical supplies and testing kits 30 days. for the novel Coronavirus among other items.

3 ISSUE 75 DATE: 30 MARCH-3 APRIL 2020 ENGLISH COVID-19: Rw anda Receives $ 109m Emergency Finding From IM F

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said recently that it has approved $109.4 million credit to Rwanda. The disbursement will help the country, which has registered 84 coronavirus cases so far, to address the pandemic. The emergency assistance is drawn under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF), which provides rapid concessional financial assistance with limited conditionality to low-income countries. "It will serve to meet Rwanda?s urgent balance of payment needs stemming from the outbreak," the IMF said. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to significant fiscal and external financing needs. The authorities have acted fast by putting in place measures to help contain and mitigate the spread of the disease. According to the IMF, the RCF funds will support the authorities? efforts by backstopping the decline in international reserves and providing financing to the budget for increased spending. The IMF said the emergency support under the will help with COVID19-related pressures on trade, tourism, and foreign All this is aimed at containing the epidemic and mitigating its exchange reserves. economic impact. It will also provide much-needed resources for health expenditure This additional IMF financing also ought to help catalyse further and for households and firms affected by the crisis. assistance from the international community, preferably in the form of grants. ?A temporary widening of the budget deficit is appropriate to mitigate the health and economic impact of the pandemic," the The IMF said its Executive Board had a discussion with Rwanda. IMF said. ?The COVID-19 Pandemic has ground Rwanda?s economy to a halt, The financial institution advised the country spending should be creating an urgent balance of payments need," Tao Zhang, the IMF?s well-targeted and cost-effective to not crowd-out other priority Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, said in a statement. areas. To contain and mitigate the spread of the virus, the government swiftly "Once the crisis abates, the fiscal adjustment path should be implemented measures that have affected all sectors of the economy. adjusted to preserve debt sustainability in the medium-term," the With uncertainties surrounding the duration and spread of the Fund said, adding that contingency plans should be prepared pandemic, the economic fallout could intensify further. given the uncertain outlook.

REB Launches E-Learning YouTube Channel A midst Coronavirus Lock dow n

Rwanda Education Board (REB) has launched an e-learning YouTube channel to facilitate students to continue their studies at home as the uncertainty on when schools will be reopened continue. This comes after all schools were closed in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown. The closure was followed by a countrywide lockdown as government continued to marshal efforts to contain the spread of the virus. The new YouTube channel that was launched Monday, March 30, consists primary and secondary courses that were usually taken in physical classrooms. So far, students can access English lessons, elementary science lessons for primary pupils as well as advanced sciences such as chemistry, mathematics and biology among FAWE Girls School students in class before schools were temporarily closed due to the coronavirus others. outbreak. Now REB has introduced a YouTube channel to facilitate students and pupils to continue studying from home during the COVID-19 lockdown . The channel has 21 videos of courses from Primary Four to Senior Six. ?I usually find it difficult concentrating on written texts when I REB, however, told The New Times that more content will be am not at school. added and that the platform will ease learning during the But with the YouTube videos, I can save them and revise any lockdown. time I want and they are less boring to me,? she said. The Director General of REB, Irene Ndayambaje, told The New Times that the platform will also facilitate peer learning Her relief was echoed by Keith Shema who is preparing for among teachers. ordinary level national exam. ?We want to help students. Instead of spending time watching ?I always enjoy studying with videos. I was preparing for the useless content on YouTube, they can now watch videos that national exams with my books and notes but now if I add help them to study and revise,? he said. lessons from YouTube, I think I will learn a lot,? he said. In addition to the newly launched YouTube channel, REB Students welcome e-learning YouTube channel partnered with local telecommunication companies MTN Radia Indatwa, a Primary Four pupil welcomed the Rwanda and Airtel to waive internet fees for students to ease development. their access to e-learning portals. 4