Rwanda’s efforts to develop over the past 23 years after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi have been commended globally.

The country’s efforts for unity and reconciliation has paid off 23 years later, with all citizens seeing themselves as Rwandans.

However, one issue that continues to be debated without any solution is the plight of the historically marginalised communities, traditionally referred to as The Batwa, which was the smallest of the three ethnic segments.

While integration of all Rwandans has been achieved to a large extent, the concerns and needs of the former Batwa people to fully integrate in the Rwandan society remains a subject of contention.

Integration

There is no doubt that government efforts to address the needs of the historically marginalised people over the years are commendable, getting them out of forests and integrating them into the mainstream society, giving them access to education, healthcare and modern agricultural practices.

Former poachers have been turned into conservationists while the government has ensured that their artisanal skills are made commercially viable.

However as different reports have showed, historically marginalised people continue to grapple with life outside their former livelihoods, which centred around forests and there is a need to do more to support them to fully integrate in society.

As such, many of them have struggled in life, others ending up desperate due to lack of support yet with limited access to finance to start income generating activities. Indeed, studies have shown that many of them are suffering.

It is important to acknowledge that the needs of the historically marginalised communities are different from those of other Rwandans and paying special attention to them can help deal with the rigours of life they are facing.

Difficulty catching up

As the leaders of these communities revealed during a recent meeting with Senators, the quality of life is fast deteriorating among these communities because they cannot catch up with the development pace.

Most of them are grappling with adaption to modern technologies and the civilised way of life, very often finding themselves struggling to make ends meet and falling further into abject poverty.

A recent report on the implementation of development programmes meant for historically marginalised populations presented to the Senators showed that the living conditions of these communities are worrisome.

Stigma and stereotyping continue to affect them, putting them at the lowest end of society’s pecking order.

The government therefore needs to come up with tailor-made solutions to the problems of these communities to sustainably address their needs.

Appropriate interventions to these challenges must be devised by concerned authorities and institutions.