Decentralization and Community Development Project

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The Decentralization and Community Development Project for Rwanda contributes to Rwanda's long-term goal for decentralization and a realigned mandate for central government, through the empowerment and improved accountability of local governments and communities. (CDD) The short-term project objective is to scale out validated project experience in the country, particularly by extending the community-driven development (CDD) strategy of the precursor Community Reintegration and Development Project (a LIL), from 11 to 39 Districts. The specific development objectives are to: (1) strengthen District capacity to lead a process of planning and consultation with local communities, translating their development priorities into sub-projects which are incorporated into Districts' strategic development plans; (2) develop a matching grants system to finance the sub-projects; (3) validate procedures for decentralized project cycle management and financial management; and (4) introduce and promote public awareness programs. The project includes four components: (1) Institutional Capacity Building: The Project will support the Government's decentralization policy by strengthening institutions' and communities' capacity to plan, implement, manage, finance, and maintain development activities. Activities to be financed by the project include a broad spectrum of training workshops and on-the-job training at all levels of implementation; (2) Information, Education and Communications: The component will inform and educate different players at all levels regarding the objectives, activities and modalities of decentralization and the relevant laws and regulations, so that populations are aware of their rights and are included in the processes. The communications strategy will also support the project's participatory monitoring and evaluation, including "social audits" for feedback from the communities on project process and results. , (3) Community Development Initiatives: This component will finance grants to participating communities in the 39 supported Districts for community-based sub-projects. (4) Program management, monitoring and evaluation: The project will adopt a decentralized approach to coordination and management. The project design takes into account that Rwanda's post-conflict environment is dynamic, yet somewhat unbalanced.