The twelfth annual National Leadership Retreat will bring together Rwanda’s senior leaders to discuss national priorities, affirm the country’s shared vision to become a knowledge driven, middle-income country by 2020 and renew momentum to achieve development objectives. The retreat will be held at the Rwanda Defence Forces Combat Training Centre in Gabiro from 28 February – 2 March 2015.
Umwiherero, meaning retreat, refers to a tradition in Rwandan culture whereby leaders would convene to reflect on issues affecting their communities. The objective of these meetings was to identify solutions and commit to achieving them. Today, the concept has been adapted and refers to a gathering of the country’s senior leaders to solve ongoing challenges.
Now in its twelfth year, Umwiherero provides a unique opportunity for Rwanda’s leaders to reflect on the country’s progress and identify strategies to accelerate the delivery of national priorities. With only two years until the realisation of the 7-Year Government Programme, this year’s retreat will take stock on commitments made to citizens and discuss sectors that still require improvement in delivery of leaders’ promises. President Kagame will chair the retreat and deliver opening and closing remarks.
An estimated 250 leaders from Central Government, Local Government, parastatals and the private sector will attend. The retreat will include a presentation from the Prime Minister on the implementation status of 2014 Leadership Retreat recommendations. The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning will present an update on the implementation of public investment projects and the CEO of the Rwanda Governance Board will present the Government Scorecard.
There will be four discussion topics at this year’s Umwiherero, including:
- Leaders’ accountability – Rethinking the government’s approach to delivery
- Leveraging Public Private Partnership to tap the full potential of the MICE sector
- Reviewing the performance of health systems and enhancing the quality of health service delivery
- Infrastructure development to support planned urbanisation
