ActionAid
Page Navigation:
Site Search | Global Navigation | Local Navigation | Page Content | Useful Links
Rwanda
Rwanda’s recent history is dominated by genocide. Long-standing tensions between the majority ethnic Hutu group and the Tutsi minority, which were fuelled by colonialism, have manifested themselves in violent clashes over many decades, leading to the 1994 genocide when a million people died and more than two million fled to neighbouring countries.
In 1996, many thousands of these refugees began to return home.
Their return has placed an already-damaged country under even greater stress.
Rwanda is still a very poor country. Farmland is infertile and in short supply and suffers from erratic rainfall. Ethnic tensions within Rwanda and with neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo create uncertainty.
The country is working to rebuild its economy, with coffee and tea production being among its main sources of foreign exchange.
ActionAid in Rwanda
ActionAid's first work in Rwanda began in 1994, providing emergency relief to people displaced by war.
Since we have been working with former refugees and survivors of the genocide on resettlement and rehabilitation projects.
We also continue our work maintaining and developing the country's basic services. Our work is largely carried out through local community groups, so that change can be appropriate and long-lasting.
photo : ©Adiran Arbib/ActionAid
Fact file
Half of all homes are headed by children under 15.
Rwanda map
Downloads