05 09 12 DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT – Written Ministerial Statement – Rwanda Budget Support.

Following my visit to the Kivus region of the
Democratic Republic of Congo in July I delayed the disbursement of General
Budget Support (GBS) to Rwanda because of concerns about the
impact of the conflict on civilians in the region and reports of Rwandan
involvement in the M23 mutiny. At this time I sought assurances from President
Kagame that Rwanda was adhering to the strict
partnership principles around GBS which I strengthened in the summer of 2011.

Rwanda has engaged constructively with the
peace process initiated through International Conference on the Great Lakes
Region and there is a continuing cease fire in the Kivus. Given this progress
and recognising that the Government of Rwanda has continued to demonstrate its
strong commitment to reducing poverty and improving its financial management,
Britain will partially
restore its general budget support to Rwanda. We will now disburse half
(£8m) of the delayed GBS tranche and will re-programme the remaining £8m. This
decision reflects our responsibility to protect the poor, but also caution as
concerns remain over Rwanda’s involvement with the M23
rebels. The re-allocated money will be directly channelled to programmes for
education and food security, to ensure that the poorest people in
Rwanda are not hurt by this change.
It will put over 60,000 more Rwandan children into primary school, half of whom
will be girls, and increase production of key food security crops by an
estimated 5,130 metric tonnes.

There are still concerns that Rwanda could do
more to meet our joint partnership principles in full. This is the first of two
budget support payments scheduled for the financial year 2012/13. The next
disbursement is due in December 2012. A decision on that disbursement will be
made in due course. The UK will continue to closely monitor
the Government of Rwanda’s role in bringing about peace in the eastern DRC
region.