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Rwandan civil society organizations are attracting private sector interest and investment to protect the environment through the IREX implemented Rwanda Civil Society Strengthening Program [6].
Challenge
The Rwandan Environmental Conservation Organization (RECOR) [7], a Rwandan civil society organization, works with communities throughout Rwanda to protect the environment. Despite a national reputation, RECOR lacks a viable self-marketing strategy, resources to develop connections and form partnerships with the Government of Rwanda’s environmental agencies and private sector environmental management groups.
Initiative
The 13th Annual Rwanda International Trade Fair provided an ideal opportunity for RECOR to begin to make those connections. The Civil Society Strengthening Program (CSSP) sponsored 11 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), including RECOR, to attend the trade fair for the first time, where they exhibited their services in the hopes of attracting private business interests to support their activities. Prior to the trade fair, CSSP helped RECOR and the other CSOs develop marketing strategies and understand CSO/private sector partnerships.
Results
As a result of CSSP’s trainings and logistical support, RECOR received about 50 expressions of interest from individuals and corporations visiting their booth and signed a contract with the Akagera Management Company (AMC). The AMC is the management body for the largest protected wetland in central Africa, the Akagera National Park. The AMC had been looking for a local partner to develop and implement an awareness campaign about the importance of park conservation for the residents near the animal reserve. At the trade fair, RECOR demonstrated its environmental expertise and firm commitment to promote environmental conservation through local community education programs.
In addition to signing a contract with AMC, RECOR is currently working with the Rwandan Development Board (RDB), a governmental umbrella group catering to foreign investors and overseas tourist operations to expand their cooperation. With AMC and RDB’s recommendations, RECOR received funding worth 40,000 Euros from the French Environment Facility/ Small Initiatives Program to implement a community conservation project in three districts around the Akagera National Park.
The Rwanda Civil Society Strengthening Program (CSSP) is a two-year project funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) [8], managed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) [9], and implemented by IREX. The program’s goal is to increase the operational, advocacy, and outreach capacities of national-level civil society organizations to make them more effective in contributing to national public policy formulation.