Sample Project Background – Rwanda

The project background is an important part of every proposal. It can be very similar to the project rationale or the project justification. It shows your donor that you did your homework and that your project is planned well. But where can you get the information and data for your project background? And how does one actually look like?

Here you have an example project background for Rwanda. If you are planning or working in Rwanda then you are welcome to use this blueprint. Be sure to add more specific information about your own project though, and add other relevant data according to the region and place.

Project Background of Rwanda

The 1994 civil-war and the associated genocide deeply marked Rwanda, and the memory is still fresh for much of its citizens. Yet it also demonstrated the country’s resilience to traumatic events of that scale. The influx of NGOs and humanitarian projects in its aftermath, alongside the government’s reconciliation, restoration and peacebuilding efforts have left the country in much better shape than would initially have been anticipated. However, like many other Subsaharan nations, much development is still in order.

Landlocked and surrounded by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi, Rwanda is located in the East Africa region, an area that sees a big concentration of humanitarian projects.

With 69.3% of Rwanda’s 11,901,484 population living in rural areas, and the remaining 30.7% in urban ones, the country’s main sector contributing to its $24.61 billion GDP is, indeed, agriculture. However, despite the majoritarily rural population, the fact that 90.7% of births happen in hospitals is quite indicative of access to healthcare facilities. Moreover, this results in relatively low child mortality rates, albeit those maternal ones remain on the higher end. Indeed, they are at respectively 29.7 deaths/1,000 live births and 290 deaths/100,000 live births.

Life expectancy being at 64.3 years old, however, shows that access is not all and that the quality of healthcare needs further attention. General quality of living follows suit as child malnutrition is still at 9.3%, and 39.1% of the population currently still lives under the poverty line. Rwanda’s HDI atones for this, as its 0.383 score is relatively low.

Gender equality sees a similar evaluation. Men and women both average at 11 years of schooling, and therefore showcase equality in that regard. Yet Rwanda scores 0.498 on the Gender Inequality Index. This shows that much work still needs to be done in that regard. The fact that child marriage remains at 20% is an example of it.

Low corruption and relatively good ease of doing business, however, help overcome the country’s challenges and facilitate organization’s contribution to dealing with them.

If you are looking for more information then there are other sources that you could use like the OECD, World Bank or the UN. Unless otherwise indicated, the data was retrieved from the CIA World Factbook.

Country: Rwanda

Source: CIA The World  Factbook (unless otherwise indicated)

Demographics

• Population: 11,901,484
• Density: 483.077 per sq/km (The World Bank)
• Area (Rural/ Urban) – 69.3% / 30.7%
• Under poverty line:  39.1%

Education

• Literacy rate – 70.5%
• Average years of schooling- 11 years
•  Average years of schooling male vs. female- 11 vs. 11

Health      

•  Average life expectancy-  64.3 years                                      
• Child mortality – 29.7 deaths/1,000 live births
• Maternal mortality- 290 deaths/100,000 live births
• Stunting/Malnourishment  in children- 9.3%
• Fertility rate  – 3.87 children born/woman

Economy

• Most important sectors- Agriculture, Mineral and Services
• GDP –    $24.61 billion
• Unemployment rate- 2.7%

Ecology

•  % of the forested area- 18%
• Number of National Parks- 3 (National parks)

 Other:

•  Rank Gender Inequality Index – 0.498 (http://hdr.undp.org/en/composite/GII)
• Human Development Index- 0.383 (http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/RWA
• Corruption Rank- 62/180 (https://www.transparency.org/country/RWA)
• Ease of doing business- 78.43 (http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/rwanda