Weekly Bulletin
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W eeKly B ulletin - RWANDA IN TURKEY- ISSUE 88 DATE: 1-5 JUNE 2020 ENGLISH President Kagame, Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente (left) and Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Vincent Biruta (right) during Tuesday?s, June 2nd , cabinet meeting at Village Urugwiro. The meeting lifted restrictions on taxi-moto operations and travel across the country, except for Rusizi and Rubavu districts. Govt ok ays inter-provincial travel, tax i-moto operations An extraordinary cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul in or out of Rusizi and Rubavu districts.? Kagame on Tuesday, June 2, approved the resumption of inter-provincial travel and passenger taxi-moto services According to the statement, public transport within the two except in Rusizi and Rubavu districts. districts is also restricted and only cargo transporting vehicles either transiting or destined for the two districts would be The resolutions that take immediate effect, follow a recent allowed to continue operating. assessment of the Covid-19 prevalence in the country, which revealed that Rusizi ? which borders DR Congo- had All latest measures will be reviewed after 15 days upon a community Covid-19 cases. health assessment, according to the statement from the Office In the past two days, May 31st and June 1st, the district of the Prime Minister. recorded at least 12 cases that, according to the Ministry of Among other Covid-19 directives that remained in place Health, involved cross-border traders, truck-drivers and a include the curfew that starts from 9pm through 5am. motorcyclist who transported goods. Rubavu also borders DR Congo. Employers were also asked to maintain the strategies in place to ensure social distancing in places of work, by maintaining As a result, the confirmed community cases had triggered the essential staff in the workplaces while others can continue postponement of the earlier anticipated resumption of upcountry travel and use of the taxi-moto services, which had working from home. earlier been slated to resume on June 1. Other measures announced by the Prime Minister include These services have been on suspension since March 21. continued mass testing and urging all traders to accept digital payments as an alternative form of payment. ?Public and private transport between provinces shall resume except movement to and from Rusizi and Rubavu district,? Citizens are also advised to continue the discipline of regularly reads parts of the statement published by the Prime Minister?s washing hands, practicing self-distancing, wearing face masks Office on Wednesday, June 3. while in public and embracing cashless payments among It adds that ?Motos are permitted to carry passengers except others. 1 ISSUE 88 DATE: 1-5 JUNE 2020 ENGLISH The first Extraordinary Intersessional Summit of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) on 3 June 2020 . K agame - Lift sanctions against Sudan, Zimbabw e President Paul Kagame has called for the review and Among notable aspects of existing cooperation include consideration of sanctions against two African countries, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Sudan and Zimbabwe, to support their ability to respond whose input has been visible in improving testing to the Covid-19 pandemic. capacities as well as the African Union which is Kagame was speaking at the first Extraordinary coordinating advocacy efforts as countries seek fiscal Intercessional Summit of Organisation of African, space to respond effectively. Caribbean and Pacific States. In this context, Kagame called for lifting of sanctions The meeting was chaired by Kenyan President Uhuru against Sudan and Zimbabwe in order to support their Kenyatta and held through video conference. ability to respond to the health crisis. Kagame said that while effects of Covid-19 could persist President Kagame said that the ongoing negotiations to for long even after the virus has been defeated, define the next phase of the relationship between the increased cooperation and mutual interdependence will guarantee the effectiveness of international response. OACP States and the European Union should not be derailed by the pandemic. ?Effects of Covid-19 will persist long after the virus is defeated and the road to recovery will be long. The talks which will result to the Post-Cotonou Increased cooperation and mutual interdependence will agreement, he said out to reflect the new realities of the be the hallmark of effective international response,? he changes in OACP?s social and economic development. said, ?At the same time, we should seize this opportunity to With uncertainty of how long the pandemic and its ensure that the prevention and recovery measures consequent disruptions will last, the response capacity of many African, Caribbean and Pacific States requires under discussion here are fully integrated into the final reinforcement. agreement. Europe will remain an important partner to our regions just as we are important partners for ?In this context, it is important for African, Caribbean and Europe,? he said. Pacific States to cooperate closely on measures to end the pandemic and enhance economic resilience. In Kagame also reiterated his support to the World Health particular, coordination will be needed to ensure Organization and Its leadership under the leadership of equitable access to treatment, vaccines and medical Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus who was also present at the supplies,? he said. meeting. 2 ISSUE 88 DATE: 1-5 JUNE 2020 ENGLISH New platform to help boost e-learning Pupils during class at Groupe Scolaire Camp Kigali in January 2020. A new technology platform ?Homeskul? was developed to respond to the learning needs of students and teachers who have been left with nowhere to go. The new Coronavirus global pandemic has led to countrywide ?We contact their referees to make sure that the kind of shutdown of schools, leaving many teachers especially those education they will provide will truly benefit the students,? he in private schools to stay home without work. notes. Even with the adoption of online learning and teaching, a few ?In case we have teachers who are not providing what students teachers have been able to sustain their jobs, and it?s not are expecting, we give notice to them to improve and failure to clear with the world will recede the pandemic despite do so leads to being removed,? he adds. optimism from some governments. Currently, most of the platforms on the market have limited A new technology platform, Homeskul, could provide relief to features that do not support interactive learning and teaching. struggling teachers. Few have chat systems that allow students to chat directly with Teachers who are qualified and are on board on the new teachers, while many others don't have automated online quiz. platform are able to earn from their knowledge and teach at their convenience. An example of such a platform is Moddle, which many schools around the country are currently using. Moddle is essentially an A team of Rwandan developers backed by investors from the online learning platform that only enables students to access UK and US have developed an electronic learning platform learning materials. that seeks to connect teachers and students. Teachers sign income share agreements, allowing them to get Homeskul is an e-learning portal that connects experienced 60 per cent commission on the fee paid by a student through teachers to parents who are busy to homeschool their the platform. children. Teachers on the platform teach everything from the national According to Olivier Nshizirungu, a lead developer, the education programme to Cambridge international programme, platform was developed to respond to the learning needs of and Centre National d'Enseignement à Distance (CNED). students and teachers who have been left with nowhere to go. Jabo Butera, a Rwandan living in the UK and one of the ?We came up with this idea because we saw the need from financial backers of the platform says investing in such students who wanted to learn from the best teachers but they platforms will enable Africans to access skills that were not couldn't bring them home because of Covid-19 pandemic,? he able to be accessed before. says. ?Education is important but accessing the right information is The platform provides the right learning environment for hard. I left for the UK in pursuit for a good education. students to improve their education. Everything is in one Technology is now allowing an opportunity for everyone to portal, students can interact with teachers through videos, access the same level of education,? he notes. access study materials, and chat directly with them. ?Investing in such a platform enables Rwandans and Africans, Hiring process in general, to access skills and knowledge at an affordable rate,? he adds. Nshizirungu who?s also the chief executive of Loxotech highlights that teachers who are registered on the platform They say they are in the process of rolling out the platform in have to go through the recruitment process through which countries like Guinea Conakry, Democratic Republic of Congo their applications and CVs are assessed. (DRC), and the UK where officials have already expressed interest. 3 ISSUE 88 DATE: 1-5 JUNE 2020 ENGLISH K agame - We cannot allow Covid-19 to do double damage The Vaccine Alliance said Thursday it raised $8.8 billion, which will help the organisation to immunise 300 million more children. President Paul Kagame has said that the world cannot Kagame said since its creation 20 years ago, Gavi has accept the new coronavirus pandemic to cause double had a tremendous impact on global health, including in damage, calling on leaders from different sectors to support efforts aimed at developing needed vaccines. Rwanda. Government and business leaders met virtually to raise ?In partnership with Gavi, Rwanda has achieved 95 per funds aimed at accelerating the work of the Global cent coverage for the most common vaccine Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) to preventable diseases.