On 17th December 2025, Transparency International Rwanda (TI-Rwanda), in collaboration with Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), the Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace (IRDP), CLADHO, Health Development Initiative (HDI), and Tubibe Amahoro, hosted the National Dialogue on Civil Society Role in Decentralization.
The dialogue aimed at taking stock of PPIMA’s contribution to citizen participation and policy uptake, alongside reflections on the Decentralization Assessment Framework (DAF), bringing together key stakeholders from civil society, public institutions, and the private sector.
In his welcome remarks, TI-Rwanda Executive Director, Apollinaire Mupiganyi, highlighted that the National Dialogue comes at a critical moment as the 15-year PPIMA Programme approaches its conclusion in 2025, calling for reflection on achievements, sustainability, and the future of citizen participation and decentralization in Rwanda.
He further emphasized that PPIMA has demonstrated the power of evidence-based advocacy—driving policy reforms, strengthening integrity and accountability, addressing gender-based corruption, and informing the pilot of the Decentralization Assessment Framework (DAF) in the health, agriculture, and environment sectors.
David Rinnert, the Political Counsellor & Head of Political and Governance Team at the British High Commission in Kigali highlighted that the National Dialogue provides a timely opportunity to take stock of over a decade of progress on decentralization, and to use evidence from PPIMA and the Decentralization Assessment Framework (DAF) to inform forward-looking, evidence-based policymaking.
He emphasized that decentralization succeeds when citizens’ priorities shape decisions and when local governments have the capacity and resources to respond—underscoring the importance of CSO accountability, citizen feedback mechanisms, and tools like the DAF to strengthen service delivery and governance outcomes.
In his remarks, the Deputy CEO of Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) highlighted that citizen participation remains a core indicator of good governance in Rwanda, noting significant progress driven in part by civil society advocacy, research, and evidence-based engagement across key sectors.
He further emphasized that while Rwanda has made notable gains in decentralization, challenges remain—particularly in fiscal decentralization and the integration of community evidence into policy decisions—calling for stronger data-driven participation and collaboration between government and CSOs.
