MEASURE Evaluation in Rwanda
Rwanda is ranked 152 of 169 countries on the 2010 United Nations Development Index, a composite national measure of health, education and income. Nearly 60 percent of the country lives below the national poverty line. Within a few years of reporting its first HIV/AIDS case in 1983, Rwanda became one of Africa’s most HIV/AIDS-afflicted countries.
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MEASURE Evaluation has maintained a country office in Rwanda since 2006. Under the leadership of former Resident Advisor, Andrew Koleros, the Rwanda office carried out a broad portfolio of activities in close collaboration with government partners. This tradition continues under the leadership of Koleros’ successor, Kirota Nindinde Kyampof.
Population
9,877,000
Population Growth Rate
2.818%
Age Structure
43.0% (0–14 years)
54.6% (15–64 years)
2.4% (65 years and over)
Death Rate
16 deaths/1,000 population
HIV-RELATED DATA
Adult HIV Prevalence
2.8%
People Living with HIV
150,000
OTHER RELEVANT DATA
Infant Mortality Rate
62 infant deaths/1,000 live births
Total Fertility Rate
5.5 children born/woman
Maternal Mortality Ratio
1,300 maternal deaths/100,000 live births (2005)
Most At Risk Populations
Assessing programs and services that target these populations is important. MEASURE Evaluation has assisted with a variety of activities that assess programs and services that target most at risk populations in Rwanda.
In 2008, MEASURE Evaluation helped Rwanda’s National AIDS Control Commission (CNLS) conduct the country’s first-ever study of HIV risk among men who have sex with men. The study sought to describe the group and explore the nature of high-risk activities among its members in Kigali. After completion of the study, study participants and other men who have sex with men attended a workshop. At the workshop, they assisted the study management team in interpreting and validating study results to develop priority HIV interventions for men who have sex with men in Kigali.
Rwanda’s National Strategic Plan for 2009–2012 incorporated the study’s results by prioritizing men who have sex with men as a target group, which helped Rwanda’s government receive funding from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis to develop programs tailored specifically for them. Furthermore, the Civil Society Coalition on Lesbian and Gay Rights drafted a position paper based on the study, which it submitted to the Rwandan Parliament in support of a law ending the criminalization of homosexuality in the country.
Additionally, MEASURE Evaluation helped facilitate Rwanda’s HIV triangulation exercise, which brought more than 100 stakeholders together to analyze trends in all data collected. From this exercise, stakeholders sought to identify predictive factors of HIV infection in youth and as well as couples in which one partner is infected with HIV and the other is not (sero-discordant couples.) They also examined coverage of HIV prevention intervention programs among populations most at risk for contracting the virus around Rwanda.
Another group at high risk of contracting HIV in Rwanda is female commercial sex workers. MEASURE Evaluation helped fund three members of Rwanda’s Treatment and Research AIDS Center (TRAC Plus) to attend a workshop covering different methodologies for estimating the size of populations that face a high risk of becoming infected with HIV. The workshop led the team to develop a detailed action plan for carrying out a national-level exercise to estimate the number of female sex workers in Rwanda, with plans to replicate the methodology at the district-level in the future.
Orphans and Vulnerable Children
MEASURE Evaluation has significant experience in supporting the monitoring and evaluation of OVC programs in Rwanda. MEASURE Evaluation staff supported the development of the current national M&E framework for the OVC National Strategic Plan (NSP) and developed data collection tools for key OVC indicators. In addition, MEASURE Evaluation assisted in adapting the Child Status Index to the Rwandan context, including translating the tool in Kinyarwanda, and has supported trainings on the CSI for both national-level and decentralized-level OVC stakeholders.
MEASURE Evaluation is building on previous work to support the newly-created Rwanda National Child Commission (NCC) to develop a national M&E Plan and Operational Plan for the OVC National Strategic Plan (NSP) in a capacity-building and skills-transfer framework. MEASURE Evaluation is working closely with M&E staff and OVC M&E stakeholders in Rwanda to formally develop and document the OVC M&E system. Key activities are:
- OVC M&E System Assessment and Systems Strengthening Plan: Based on MEASURE Evaluation’s experience conducting M&E systems assessments in the HIV sector, MEASURE Evaluation is working with NCC and OVC M&E stakeholders to assess the national OVC M&E system in an effort to identify system strengthening measures. As part of this activity, MEASURE Evaluation is adapting the 12 Components Organizing Framework for a functional HIV System to the context of OVC programs. This includes adapting the M&E Systems Strengthening (MESS) Tool based on the 12 Components Framework for use in OVC programs, conducting an overall OVC M&E system assessment and developing a systems strengthening multi-year costed operational plan based on assessment results.
- Data quality strategy: MEASURE Evaluation is supporting the development of an overall data quality strategy for NCC. The strategy development employs a skills-building approach with OVC M&E stakeholders in an effort to transfer capacity. The strategy includes detailed operational guidance on rolling out data quality activities for OVC programs included data quality assurance tools, training materials, and resources.
Assessing the National M&E System
In December 2009, MEASURE Evaluation provided technical assistance to CNLS to assess the national HIV monitoring and evaluation system. To do so, it used the UNAIDS 12 Components M&E System Assessment Tool. The findings identified weaknesses and were used to develop a two-year integrated M&E work plan with activities designed to address the weaknesses.
Strengthening District-Level M&E Systems
In 2010 MEASURE Evaluation began collaborating with CNLS to work with district-level AIDS control committees to develop action plans to improve data quality in their respective districts. Action plans incorporate planning, coordination, monitoring and evaluation activities for each district.
