DOCSLIB.ORG

Thirty Years of Rwandan-German Development Cooperation

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Thirty Years of Rwandan-German Development Cooperation 1 VOLUME I: EVALUATION REPORT Thirty Years of Rwandan-German Development Cooperation in the Health Sector 2014 The German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval) is mandated by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to independently analyse and assess German development interventions. The evaluations of the institute aim to make contributions which improve the grounds for decision-making necessary for effectively shaping development policy and which increase the transparency of evaluation results. The report presented here can be downloaded in pdf-format from the DEval-website under: www.deval.org/en/evaluation-reports. Please forward any requests for publications in print to [email protected]. All views presented in this report are from DEval and do not necessarily represent the positions of the BMZ. A statement from the BMZ regarding this evaluation is available under: www.bmz.de/bmz-stellungnahmen-deval-evaluierungen. Contact German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval) Tulpenfeld 7, 53113 Bonn Germany www.DEval.org Dr. Stefanie Krapp Tel: +49 (0)228 24 99 29-930 Email: [email protected] The report consists of two volumes: Volume I: Evaluation Report Volume II: Annexes Authors Dr. Thomas Schwedersky Dr. Martin Noltze Felix Gaisbauer Responsible Dr. Stefanie Krapp Acknowledgement DEval would like to thank all interviewees, reference groups, the Rwandan Ministry of Health, the German Embassy, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and implementing agencies for their explicit and valuable support of the evaluation. Executive Summary vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background, objectives, and methodology conditions within the sector and with regard to socioeconom- ic and political developments. In accordance with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness 4. The phasing out of GDC in the health sector. and the Accra Agenda for Action, the Government of Rwanda has enhanced the division of labor between the donors that support To reduce the complexity inherent in the time period covered Rwanda. In 2010, as a consequence, the German Federal Gov- by the evaluation, German interventions in the Rwandan health ernment agreed to the request of the Government of Rwanda to sector have been reviewed for paradigmatic shifts that would discontinue its support to the health sector by the end of 2012. allow for a temporal disaggregation for this period. Mapping This has provided a unique opportunity to review and assess 30 the interventions between 1980 and 2012, according to (1) the years of cooperation in the Rwandan health sector by means of a implementing agency, (2) their duration, (3) the mode of delivery summative evaluation. There is an overarching interest in striking and strategic alignment, and (4) thematic focus, has implied that a balance after so many years of cooperation, based on an array 1994 / 1995 and 2003 / 2004 can be considered turning points. In of aid modalities and instruments of German Development addition, the 1994 Rwandan genocide marks a period sufficiently Cooperation (GDC) (project- and program-based approaches, serious to require consideration. The year 2003 constitutes the basket funding and sector budget support, policy dialogue, onset of a transformation within Rwandan-German development technical assistance – including advisory services and training cooperation from the standpoint of project-mode to a more – and financial cooperation (provided by GTZ / GIZ, DED / GIZ, integrated form of cooperation. Accordingly, the analysis has InWEnt / GIZ, and KfW), which have come into play. focused on three phases: (I) 1980 – 94, (II) 1995 – 2003 and (III) 2004 – 12. The evaluation was conducted by DEval between July 2012 and October 2013.1 The results shed light on how development Phases I and II, in particular, posed challenges regarding the cooperation in one sector (health) has developed over many availability of interview partners, relevant documentation, and years, while experiencing changing political and socioeconomic secondary data. While emphasis was placed on documenting the contexts and aid modalities. By documenting the entire process, evolution of Rwandan-German cooperation and the adaptation including the phasing out and identifying of successful approach- to changing situations during these phases, the focus of Phase es, Rwandan partners can use the findings for their own man- III was to provide evidence for a theory-based evaluation design, agement of the health sector and their cooperation with other based on the criteria of the Development Assistance Committee development partners. GDC, at the same time, can draw lessons of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development for future support to sector development in partner countries. (OECD-DAC): relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. In addition, the design would include criteria The specific objectives of the evaluation are to provide evidence formulated by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and an assessment of the following: and Development (BMZ): coherence, complementarity, coordi- nation, and harmonization. Evaluation approaches for attributing 1. How Rwandan-German cooperation has developed in the health effects in the Rwandan population to German support health sector. had proved unachievable due to program implementation 2. The relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability, design. While advantageous, according to the aid effectiveness coherence, coordination, complementarity, and harmoniza- model, the significant alignment to national health priorities tion of Rwandan-German cooperation in the health sector. further complicated attribution analysis and, therefore, led to 3. Successful and less successful aid modalities and instruments, the adoption of a theory-based contribution analysis. Further as well as their interaction and adaptability to changing key questions with regard to the evaluation of Phase III relate to 1 The draft of the evaluation report was sent to the reference groups on October 31st, 2013. vii Executive Summary the phasing out of Rwandan-German cooperation with regard family planning activities, in any case, cannot be viewed in to health and the assignment of the different aid modalities and opposition to government interests, since the regime appeared instruments and their interaction. to unconditionally support family planning. The following methods have been applied: (1) document analysis; German development workers, during this phase, primarily (2) standardized online survey among former development worked to fill the human resources gaps in the rural health workers; (3) interviews with different groups of key stakeholders; sector. They considered the high staff turnover in the public (4) statistical data analysis of the most recent Demographic and health system and the increased movement of labor to the Health Survey in Rwanda; and (5) a comparative case study of private sector as major factors hindering development. four district health systems, using focus group discussions and qualitative interviews. Discriminatory treatment of staff in the health sector – based on ethnic group – took place, as well as in daily work life. The Key findings and conclusions interviews that were conducted, however, do not point to open discrimination in the treatment of patients; rather, they point to Rwandan-German cooperation between 1980 and 1994 discrimination based on a patient’s socioeconomic situation. (Phase I) The political situation during this period of Rwandan-German The already volatile socioeconomic situation further deteriorated cooperation was characterized by an ideology centered on the when the regime of Juvénal Habyarimana was attacked by the idealization of rural farmers and their manual work, represented Rwandese Patriotic Army in 1990. In 1993, the Arusha Accords by the majority ethnic group. This ideology came under con- ended the three-year civil war, but the negotiated power-sharing siderable pressure at the end of the 1980s, when commodity agreements between the Government of Rwanda and the Rwan- prices – especially for coffee – fell and the price for imported dese Patriotic Front were only slowly implemented and did not goods increased, partly as a result of the World Bank’s structural halt the violence. The ethnically loaded conflict peaked in April adjustment programs. Not only did this challenge food security 1994, when Hutu extremists seized power within hours after the and nutrition; it also impacted on the economic situation of assassination of Habyarimana, and a state-orchestrated genocide Rwandan households and had severe implications on the health began, resulting in a tremendous death toll. of the population. GDC reaction to this socioeconomic deteriora- tion has been limited. The motivation for change originated more GDC interventions did not change, in essence, during the first so from the individual initiatives of development workers in their phase. While there was a call for attention from within GDC and work place rather than from the directions of GDC organizations. internationally on the increasing conflict, GDC misjudged the situation and reacted on the outbreak of violence only by evac- In accordance with its mandate, GDC contributed to an improve- uating all German project staff. GDC personnel began returning ment in health services, especially maternal and child health to Rwanda in March 1995, when it became evident that nearly all care and
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Rhode Island M Edical J Ournal
    RHODE ISLAND M EDICAL J OURNAL SPECIAL SECTION GLOBAL HEALTH GUEST EDITORS: ADAM C. LEVINE, MD, MPH; ALISON S. HAYWARD, MD, MPH SEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 102 • NUMBER 7 ISSN 2327-2228 RHODE ISLAND M EDICAL J OURNAL 16 Little Rhody Goes Global ADAM C. LEVINE, MD, MPH; ALISON S. HAYWARD, MD, MPH GUEST EDITORS 17 Addressing Global Human Rights Violations in Rhode Island: The Brown Human Rights Asylum Clinic ODETTE ZERO, BA, MD-ScM ‘22; MARGA KEMPNER, BA, MD ‘22; SARAH HSU, BA, MD-ScM ‘22; HEBA HALEEM, BA, MD ‘22; ELIZABETH TOLL, MD; ELIZABETH TOBIN-TYLER, JD, MA A. Levine, MD, MPH A. Hayward, MD, MPH 21 Obstetric Fistula Repair in Sub-Saharan Africa: Partnering to Create Sustainable Impact for Patients and Trainees AMITA KULKARNI, MD; ANNETTA MADSEN, MD; SARAH ANDIMAN, MD; ARLENE NISHIMWE, MD; B. STAR HAMPTON, MD 25 A Collaborative Family Planning Program in Rural Uganda Utilizing Community Health Workers ALISON S. HAYWARD, MD, MPH; KELSEY BROWN, MD’22 28 Tele-ECHO for Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Rural Kenya: A Feasibility Study LINDSAY DREIZLER, MD’21; GRACE W. WANJIKU, MD, MPH 32 Building and Sustaining Partnerships in Health Workforce and Research Capacity in Rwanda STEPHANIE C. GARBERN, MD, MPH; KYLE D. MARTIN, MD; CATALINA GONZALEZ- MARQUES, MD; OLIVIER FÉLIX UMUHIRE, MD; DORIS LORETTE UWAMAHORO, MD; ADAM R. ALUISIO, MD, MSc; ADAM C. LEVINE, MD, MPH 36 Developing a Novel Mobile Health (mHealth) Tool to Improve Dehydration Assessment and Management Rwandan emergency medicine residents and inter- in Patients with Acute Diarrhea in Resource-Limited Settings national faculty outside of the ambulance entrance MONIQUE GAINEY, MS, MPH; MEAGAN BARRY, MD, PhD; at the Kigali University Teaching Hospital.
    [Show full text]
  • Access to Energy in Rwanda N Rwanda | IOB Evaluation | No
    IOB Evaluation | n0. 396 IOB Evaluation Access to Energy in Rwanda Impact evaluation of activities supported by the Dutch Promoting Renewable Energy Programme IOB Evaluation | no. 396 | Access to Energy in Rwanda | IOB Evaluation | no. 396 | Access to Energy in Rwanda | IOB Evaluation | no. 396 | Access to Energy in Rwanda | IOB Evaluation | no. 396 | Access to Energy in Rwanda | IOB Evaluation | no. 396 | Access to Energy in Rwanda | IOB Evaluation | no. 396 | Access to Energy in Rwanda | IOB Evaluation | no. 396 | Access to Energy in Rwanda | IOB Evaluation | no. 396 | Access to Energy in Rwanda | IOB Evaluation | Access to Energy in Rwanda IOB Evaluation Access to Energy in Rwanda Impact evaluation of activities supported by the Dutch Promoting Renewable Energy Programme August 2014 Preface Preface Global challenges such as inequal economic development, poverty, uncontrolled international migration and lack of food security are increasingly seen as directly related to climate change, environmental hazards and demand for energy. Access to renewable energy is recognised as contributing substantially to sustainable development, and the United Nations General Assembly has designated the current decade as the Decade of Sustainable Energy for All. The Netherlands development cooperation has been active in renewable energy investments since 1968, initially in the context of the appropriate technology movement. In 2004, the Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation committed herself to providing access to energy to 10 million people by 2015. The operationalisation of that commitment was envisaged through a global sector-wide delegated cooperation agreement with Germany. With the launch of the Promoting Renewable Energy Programme in 2008, efforts intensified.
    [Show full text]
  • Report on the Health Care Sector and Business Opportunities in Rwanda
    Report on the Health Care Sector and Business Opportunities in Rwanda Kristina Leuchowius for SWECARE FOUNDATION September 2014 Table of Contents Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................................................................................... I Preface .............................................................................................................................................................................................. II 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 General .......................................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Why Rwanda? ........................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.2 Health is a prioritized sector ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.3 Health sector bottlenecks and needs ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.4 Perception of Swedish technology and health sector .............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Strengthening Health Systems
    Strengthening health systems Evidence-informed approaches and lessons learned from Rwanda ‘Institutional Support to Ministry of Health – Phase IV’ (Minisanté IV) Program Capitalization and Knowledge Management: generating lessons from program implementation and translating them into concrete actions at managerial and technical levels for increased ownership, evidence-based policy development and sharing of good practices This booklet is a product of the Ministry of Health in Rwanda in collaboration with the ‘Institutional Support to Ministry of Health – Phase IV’ (Minisanté IV) Program through support from the Belgian Development Agency. The book capitalizes on the work done within the BTC- Rwanda partnership and reflects on different components such as health system strengthening, Strengtheningmaternal health, mental health, urban health, health health technologies and ecologicalsystems interventions, decentralization and aid modalities reflections. It is also a reflection on the value of results achieved and the progress made through the whole institutional support process while providing an appreciation of the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and impact of planned Evidence-informedinterventions. In addition, this book is seen approaches as an intensive sharing and and learning lessons opportunity in order to draw useful lessons for other similar interventions, new policies and strategies in other learnedcountries and future from partnerships Rwanda in Rwanda. Strengthening health systems Evidence-informed approaches
    [Show full text]
  • Causes of Death and Predictors of Childhood Mortality in Rwanda: a Matched Case-Control Study Using Verbal Social Autopsy Neil Gupta1,3,4* , Lisa R
    Gupta et al. BMC Public Health (2018) 18:1378 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6282-z RESEARCHARTICLE Open Access Causes of death and predictors of childhood mortality in Rwanda: a matched case-control study using verbal social autopsy Neil Gupta1,3,4* , Lisa R. Hirschhorn2, Felix C. Rwabukwisi3, Peter Drobac1,3,4, Felix Sayinzoga5, Cathy Mugeni5, Fulgence Nkikabahizi5, Tatien Bucyana5, Hema Magge1,3, Daniel M. Kagabo3, Evrard Nahimana3, Dominique Rouleau3, Amelia VanderZanden6, Megan Murray1,4 and Cheryl Amoroso3 Abstract Background: Rwanda has dramatically reduced child mortality, but the causes and sociodemographic drivers for mortality are poorly understood. Methods: We conducted a matched case-control study of all children who died before 5 years of age in eastern Rwanda between 1st March 2013 and 28th February 2014 to identify causes and risk factors for death. We identified deaths at the facility level and via a community health worker reporting system. We used verbal social autopsy to interview caregivers of deceased children and controls matched by area and age. We used InterVA4 to determine probable causes of death and cause-specific mortality fractions, and utilized conditional logistic regression to identify clinical, family, and household risk factors for death. Results: We identified 618 deaths including 174 (28.2%) in neonates and 444 (71.8%) in non-neonates. The most commonly identified causes of death were pneumonia, birth asphyxia, and meningitis among neonates and malaria, acute respiratory infections, and HIV/AIDS-related death among non-neonates. Among neonates, 54 (31.0%) deaths occurred at home and for non-neonates 242 (54.5%) deaths occurred at home.
    [Show full text]
  • Research the Health-Related Millennium Development Goals (Mdgs)
    Open Access Research The health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2015: Rwanda performance and contributing factors Médard Nyandekwe1, Jean Baptiste Kakoma1, Manassé Nzayirambaho1,& 1University of Rwanda, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Kigali, Rwanda &Corresponding author: Manassé Nzayirambaho, University of Rwanda, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Kigali, Rwanda Key words: Rwanda, Millennium Development Goals, Health-related targets Received: 23/10/2016 - Accepted: 06/08/2018 - Published: 26/09/2018 Abstract Introduction: The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2015 are the eight international development goals adopted by the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000 to which Rwanda is signatory. In 1990, Rwanda was at least one of the Sub-Saharan Africa countries with poor performance on health-related MDGs indicators. To date, despite the setbacks caused by the 1994 genocide, impressive performance is registered. The objective of the study is to document Rwanda gradual progress to achieving the health-related MDGs 2015 targets from 1990 to 2014/2015. Methods: The study is retrospective and comparative documenting the period of 1990 to 2014/15. Results: The performance of Rwanda on health-related MDGs 2015 targets is impressive despite the negative effects of the 1990-1994 civil wars and the 1994 genocide against Tutsi on 1990's levels. In effect, out of 17 health-related MDGs indicators, eleven (11) registered "remarkable" performances, i.e. reached global levels or fastened Vision 2020 targets attainment, two (2) registered "good performances", i.e. reached basic or revised own targets exhibiting overall impressive performance, while four (4) "weaknesses" are observed, i.e.
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluation of PEPFAR's Contribution (2012-2017) to Rwanda's Human Resources for Health Program (2020)
    THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS This PDF is available at http://nap.edu/25687 SHARE Evaluation of PEPFAR's Contribution (2012-2017) to Rwanda's Human Resources for Health Program (2020) DETAILS 270 pages | 6 x 9 | PAPERBACK ISBN 978-0-309-67205-4 | DOI 10.17226/25687 CONTRIBUTORS GET THIS BOOK Committee on the Evaluation of Strengthening Human Resources for Health Capacity in the Republic of Rwanda Under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); Board on Global Health; Health and Medicine Division; National FIND RELATED TITLES Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine SUGGESTED CITATION National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2020. Evaluation of PEPFAR's Contribution (2012-2017) to Rwanda's Human Resources for Health Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25687. Visit the National Academies Press at NAP.edu and login or register to get: – Access to free PDF downloads of thousands of scientific reports – 10% off the price of print titles – Email or social media notifications of new titles related to your interests – Special offers and discounts Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the National Academies Press. (Request Permission) Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Evaluation of PEPFAR's Contribution (2012-2017) to Rwanda's Human Resources for Health Program Evaluation of PEPFAR’s Contribution (2012–2017) to Rwanda’s Human Resources for Health Program Committee on the Evaluation of Strengthening Human Resources for Health Capacity in the Republic of Rwanda Under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Board on Global Health Health and Medicine Division A Consensus Study Report of PREPUBLICATION COPY: UNCORRECTED PROOFS Copyright National Academy of Sciences.
    [Show full text]
  • Health Sector Performance Report FY 2019-2020
    Rwanda Health Sector Performance Report 2019-2020 TABLE OF CONTENT FOREWORD ....................................................................................................................................................... i TABLE OF CONTENT ......................................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................. viii LIST OF ACRONYMS .......................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ 3 1. HEALTHCARE SERVICE DELIVERY .............................................................................................................. 3 1.1. Outpatient department (OPD) visits in health facilities ..................................................................... 3 1.2. Hospitalization .................................................................................................................................. 5 1.3. Access to clinical laboratory services ...............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • This Item Is the Archived Peer-Reviewed Author-Version Of
    This item is the archived peer-reviewed author-version of: When ethnicity beats gender : quotas and political representation in Rwanda and Burundi Reference: Guariso Andrea, Ingelaere Bert, Verpoorten Marijke.- When ethnicity beats gender : quotas and political representation in Rw anda and Burundi Development and change - ISSN 0012-155X - 49:6(2018), p. 1361-1391 Full text (Publisher's DOI): https://doi.org/10.1111/DECH.12451 To cite this reference: https://hdl.handle.net/10067/1554450151162165141 Institutional repository IRUA PUBLISHED IN DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE doi.org/10.1111/dech.12451 Female Political Representation in Burundi and Rwanda WHEN ETHNICITY BEATS GENDER: QUOTAS AND POLITICAL REPRESENTATION IN RWANDA AND BURUNDI A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BURUNDI AND RWANDA Andrea Guariso†, Bert Ingelaereф, Marijke Verpoorten‡ July 2018 Acknowledgements: The authors thank Jean-Marie Baland, Markus Goldstein, Nathan Nunn, Jean-Philippe Platteau, Vijayendra Rao, as well as other participants at the UNU-WIDER workshops in Namur and Helsinki and the anonymous referees for their much appreciated comments. Lesley Ellen commented on language and formatting. We are grateful to UNU-WIDER for financial support. Besides UNU-WIDER support, the compilation of the dataset underlying this research was funded by FWO (application grant numbers 1522715N, 12A2214N, and 1505415N) and IOB research grants. Andrea acknowledges support from VLADOC, VLIR- UOS. Bert benefited from a stay as visiting postdoctoral fellow in Yale’s Program on Order, Conflict and Violence. This article is reproduced with acknowledgement of UNU-WIDER in Helsinki which commissioned the original research. All errors and opinions expressed remain our own. † Trinity College Dublin. ф IOB Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Antwerp.
    [Show full text]
  • 2014‑2018 Rwanda
    WHO COUNTRY COOPERATION STRATEGY 2014-2018 RWANDA WHO Country Cooperation Strategy 2014-2018 1 Contents Abbreviation............................................................................................................. 4 Preface...................................................................................................................... 7 Executive summary....................................................................................................8 1. Introduction.........................................................................................................11 2. Health and development challenges and national response ................................13 2.1. Macroeconomic, political and social context .....................................................13 2.2. Major determinants of health.............................................................................14 2.3. Health status of the population..........................................................................18 2.4. National responses to health challenges............................................................21 2.5. Health systems and services..............................................................................21 2.6. Contributions of Rwanda to the global health agenda.......................................24 2.7. Summary............................................................................................................26 3. Development cooperation and partnerships........................................................28
    [Show full text]
  • Reconciliation in Post-Genocide Rwanda: the Transitional Justice Paradox
    RECONCILIATION IN POST-GENOCIDE RWANDA: THE TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE PARADOX by Emily Kent B.A., Dalhousie University, 2007 PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES In the School for International Studies © Emily Kent 2009 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2009 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Emily Kent Degree: Master of Arts in International Studies Title of Thesis: Reconciliation in Post-Genocide Rwanda: The Transitional Justice Paradox Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. John Harriss Professor of International Studies _______________________________________ Dr. Lenard Cohen Senior Supervisor Professor Emeritus of International Studies _______________________________________ Dr. Nicole Jackson Supervisor Associate Professor of International Studies Date Defended/Approved: July 21, 2009 ii Declaration of Partial Copyright Licence The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection (currently available to the public at the “Institutional Repository” link of the SFU Library website <www.lib.sfu.ca> at: <http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/112>) and, without changing the content, to translate the thesis/project or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work.
    [Show full text]
  • Erin E. Hughes Nation Rebuilding in Rwanda and South Africa
    WORKING PAPERS IN NATIONALISM STUDIES No. 3, 2011 Erin E. Hughes Nation Rebuilding in Rwanda and South Africa: An Assessment of Identity Formation, Governance, and Economic Growth ISBN: 1 900522 88 8 Our Working Papers in Nationalism Studies present the finest dissertation work from students on the MSc Nationalism Studies programme at the University of Edinburgh. Erin E. Hughes graduated with distinction from the programme in November 2007. Abstract Rwanda and South Africa suffered extraordinary efforts to cleanse their societies on the basis of ethnicity; Rwanda through a horrifically efficient genocide and South Africa through the protracted exclusion and oppression of apartheid. The regimes perpetuating such malignant ethnic nationalism both collapsed in 1994 against opposition movements representing the ethnicities they hoped to expel. The new governments have constructed instead a non-ethnic, state-centered national identity around which to unite their divided populations; they have strived for political systems able to withstand, if not preclude, any remaining extremism in the polity; and they have embraced the pursuit of economic growth. This paper assesses the confluence of these undertakings as they transition each society to an inclusive nation: Rwanda to an ethnically-void civic nation, South Africa to a multiethnic, multilingual civil nation. I find the ability of the state to perpetuate economic growth, provided growth extends to individuals of all ethnicities, is most able to support this process. By restructuring society, it facilitates cross-ethnic interaction while constraining illiberalism. Growth is thus imperative to the stabilization of social relations, the substantiation of the new government, and the sustainability of the new, multiethnic, nation.
    [Show full text]