We’ve been in Rwanda since 2002, successfully working on a number of family and community-based initiatives. Since 2010 we’ve been supporting the Government of Rwanda to eradicate institutions and develop a national child protection system, that minimises family separation and provides family-based alternatives when necessary.
What we do in Rwanda
We’re working in partnership with the Government of Rwanda and other national partners, to ensure all children will be safely transitioned into families and communities with access to health, education and jobs. We’ll continue working closely with the government and civil society in the development of policy, service standards and national action plans to underpin and consolidate reform of the child protection system.
Our work in numbers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Orphanages closed
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Children transitioned out of orphanages, back to their communities
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Community hubs created to help keep children safe at home
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Children and families supported through our projects
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Participants trained to help with deinstitutionalisation
Our impact
Over the last seven years, working closely with the Government of Rwanda, we’ve helped build a strong national social workforce, assisted with the closure of 14 orphanages across the country including Rwanda’s oldest and largest institution, Orphelinat Noel de Nyundo, and helped transition over 1,300 children into families and communities. We achieved this through the development of a range of community-based services including 8 community hubs, 230 child development networks and the development of family-based services like foster care and community-based living for children and people with special needs.
In total, we have successfully worked with over 150,000 children and their families. We’re currently in the process of closing one further orphanage.
Over the years, over 23,000 participants benefited from our training programmes across Rwanda, and were equipped with the knowledge and skills to support the deinstitutionalisation process.
No one cares for me here. I want to be at home.
When Cary was five years old, her family made the heart-breaking decision to admit her to an orphanage for children with disabilities. They thought she would be provided with the additional support she needs and will be cared for and loved. But orphanages do not protect children; they harm them, exposing children to neglect and abuse and damaging their development. Because the one thing an orphanage can never provide is the first thing that every child needs; someone to love them. Cary spent the next 9 years neglected and alone in the orphanage without the support and attention she needed…
Get in touch
Contact our team in Rwanda on [email protected] or follow our in-country work on Twitter or Facebook.
.