By JOHNSON KANAMUGIRE

More by this Author

The country’s historically marginalized communities traditionally referred to as The Batwa have decried declining living conditions largely attributed to lack of proper integration after most vacated the forests that served as their main source of livelihood.

They say, for instance, that years after most of them left Nyungwe Forest, Volcano National Park and Gishwati, they face hardships as they were not given land to carry out agricultural activities or keep livestock.

The Community of Potters of Rwanda (Coporwa), a local Batwa organisation, also said that many of its members have up to now not received any support to help them start income generating activities.

Yvonne Musabyimana, chairperson of Coporwa said that even as a section of them turned to pottery, it was not earning them enough money to live on due to lack of technical and financial support, which would enable them to modernise what they do and ease access to larger markets.

Competition

“Our pottery businesses are increasingly losing out to competition from industrial alternatives. The government is yet to regard pottery as a profession it can support and help modernise to help communities earn a good living,” said Mrs Musabyimana.

She led a delegation of representatives of Batwa communities for discussions with the Senate’s recently-created ad hoc committee on challenges facing historically marginalised groups.

Their presentation detailing the poor standard of living among Batwa communities across the country showed that these challenges had left most families struggling to develop at the same rate as other Rwandans.

It emerged that although programmes like education for all had seen many of their children go to school and over 55 students graduate from university, the poverty situation and a traditional mindset had seen most of them struggle to secure jobs and many children were dropping out of school as a result.

Organisations like Coporwa decried lack of support from the government and donors to carry out interventions and an advocacy role.

Report

An earlier report on the implementation of development programmes meant for historically marginalised people presented by a group of Senators noted that living conditions for these citizens remain substandard despite several socio-economic programmes initiated to assist them, such as one cow per family (Girinka) programme, provision of housing facilities and others.

The report further showed that the support given to them by the government is still low. Relevant authorities seem to pay no attention to their issues.

The representatives, who cited continued stigmatisation and stereotypes against the Batwa, said there is a need to create interventions specifically tailored for their communities and a framework that addresses their specific issues in every district.

The Batwa’s plight was also echoed in a report recently carried out by local human-rights groups examining how the country faired in applying a number of International Labour Organisations’ conventions it ratified.

The Great Lakes Initiative for Human Rights and Development said there was a need for the government to combat the serious poverty faced by Batwa by promoting their access to education, training and employment.

Measures

“This can be done by taking the necessary measures to give the Batwa people access to land and resources to enable them to practice their traditional occupations; improving their access to education and vocational training as well as developing more initiatives and activities to prevent and combat stigmatisation and stereotypes,” read the report’s recommendations.

Senators sitting on the ad hoc committee on challenges facing historically marginalised groups said they planned a two-month countrywide field visit during which they will delve into the issues that have been raised and would also investigate challenges facing the Batwa communities.

Consolé Uwimana who chairs the committee said the findings will help inform appropriate interventions and actions.