Roundup: Poverty no longer a serious threat to Rwandans: President Kagame

Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on Thursday that the country no longer faces serious challenges of poverty as the poverty gap has been narrowed to manageable proportions.

He made the remarks while delivering State of the Nation Address at the opening of the 14th edition of the National Dialogue, locally known as 'Umushyikirano', at the Kigali Convention Centre, in the capital Kigali.

The forum that runs from December 14 to 15, brings together close to 2,000 Rwandan citizens and those from the Diaspora, including members of foreign diplomatic corps accredited to Rwanda, civil society organizations, private sector and the academia to assess Rwanda's achievements registered in the last few years and plan for the future.

Umushyikirano is an annual event that gives all Rwandans, both in the country and abroad, the opportunity to ask their leaders questions directly and engage in the country's challenges, opportunities and growth agenda.

"Yet we recognize that many Rwandans still feel that they are struggling to have the life they want. In 2001, four out of every ten Rwandans lived in extreme poverty. Today the figure is getting closer to one in 10," said Kagame. "We used to struggle just to survive. Now we struggle to thrive and prosper. This country sees every citizen as a full stakeholder, not as someone to be singled out, categorized and denied livelihood."

He noted that Rwanda has invested heavily in the future Rwandans want despite the fact that it has cost a lot of money to the economy.

"It is my duty and also my pleasure to report to you that State of our nation is strong and growing stronger. Everything we have been through and successfully addressed proves that we have both the right and the ability to aim high," the president stated.

According to the fourth Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey (EICV4), that was launched last year, Rwanda's poverty levels stand at 39 percent down from 44 percent during the previous survey in 2011.

Economy analysts believe that with the current rate of poverty reduction, Rwanda is likely to eradicate extreme poverty by the year 2020.

Rwanda's Economic Development and Poverty Reduction second phase (EDPRS2) which is now in its second phase targets to further drag down poverty levels through 13 social protection programs including Ubudehe-Social classification program and Girinka (One cow per poor family) that directly benefit the poor.

The main goal of the EDPRS2 strategy is to speed up Rwanda's progress towards becoming a middle-income status country and creating a better quality of life for all Rwandans through sustained average GDP growth of 11.5 percent and accelerated poverty reduction to less than 30 percent of the population. Endit