Rwanda

Rwanda is a small, idyllic country, nestling in the heart of central Africa. It has a truly diverse landscape with five volcanoes, twenty-three lakes and numerous rivers, some forming the source of the River Nile. Bordered by Uganda to the north, Tanzania to the east, Burundi to the south and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west, this landlocked country is home to over 9 million people.

Anyone visiting 'the land of a thousand hills and a million smiles' is in for a multitude of surprises. The Volcanoes National park in the Virunga Mountains, with its high altitude forests, is home to the majestic mountain gorilla, while Lake Kivu to the west offers beautiful beaches, jutting peninsulas and a simply breathtaking archipelago of islands. Rwanda is home to more than 600 species of bird and all the great animals of the wild are protected from poachers and roam free in its three vast national parks.

While the country is currently at peace, Rwandans have understandably struggled with the legacy of the 1994 war and genocide, in which over 800,000 people lost their lives. The Government of National Unity inherited a deeply scarred nation, whose economy had ground to a complete halt, where social services were not functioning, and public confidence had been shattered. It was with these enormous challenges that the government set about rebuilding the social, political and economic fabric and has already made amazing progress.

Rwanda is one of the 20 poorest countries in the world. It ranked 161 of 177 countries in the 2007 Human Development Index. The number living below the poverty line declined from 70% in 1994 to 60% by 2002. Enrolment in primary school is now at 94%. Underlining the progress Rwanda has made in poverty reduction, it qualified in April 2005 for debt relief under the enhanced Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, amounting in real terms to some US$1.4 billion. Rwanda remains highly aid-dependent. Currently, some 50% of government revenue comes from donor support.