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NewsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:10 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:13 [APPLAUSE]
00:37 Head of the Diplomatic Corps, local government leaders,
00:42 distinguished guests, a very good afternoon.
00:44 [APPLAUSE]
00:47 It is a pleasure for me to join you today
00:53 for this opening ceremony of the 10th Commonwealth Local
00:57 Government Conference.
01:00 I welcome you all to Chigari, Rwanda.
01:03 And we are very pleased to host you for this conference that
01:07 follows the successful 2016th Commonwealth Head of State
01:11 Government meeting, CHOGAM, which took place here
01:16 in Chigari in June last year.
01:20 The theme of this conference, building local resilience
01:26 across the Commonwealth, is timely.
01:30 It is a call to work together and overcome
01:34 the current challenges, including
01:37 the negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic, global economic
01:44 crisis, and other shocks.
01:48 The COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and the conflicts
01:54 have challenged our resilience as a government.
01:58 For instance, some reports indicate
02:02 that the Commonwealth member countries suffered
02:06 a collective loss of $1.15 trillion US dollars
02:12 to their GDP in 2020, compared with the pre-pandemic estimate.
02:19 Likewise, in 2019, climate-related disasters
02:24 caused direct economic losses of $70.4 billion US dollars
02:30 in 53 countries, with 60% of the losses recorded
02:37 in agricultural sector.
02:40 On top of that, it is estimated that climate change's
02:44 negative effects could push 100 million people
02:49 into extreme poverty by 2030.
02:53 This conference is, therefore, a good opportunity for us
02:57 to reflect on how to strengthen resilience for local government
03:03 and explore innovative ways to address these challenges.
03:08 Distinguished guests, in Rwanda,
03:11 we have made significant progress
03:14 in building resilience to local government.
03:18 Although there is still a long way to go,
03:22 it's important to acknowledge some milestones achieved so far.
03:27 Over the last 29 years, the government of Rwanda
03:31 has been working to rebuild a stable, united,
03:36 and prosperous nation.
03:38 Our strategic priorities have been
03:42 on citizen-centered governance, quality service delivery,
03:47 and enforcing the principles of inclusiveness, transparency,
03:52 and accountability.
03:55 Promoting homegrown solutions, as well as
03:58 sectoral decentralization, have been
04:01 the drivers in building strong local government
04:05 entities that contribute to national development.
04:10 To increase the citizens' participation, accountability,
04:15 and transparency from the leaders,
04:18 the government of Rwanda put in place performance contracts
04:23 program, commonly known as IMHIGO.
04:27 Some of you may have heard about it.
04:30 This program has been a reliable tool
04:34 for evaluating performance at both the central and local
04:39 government levels since 2006.
04:44 As you may know, under this program,
04:47 every year public servants sign performance contracts
04:51 with their managers or supervisors
04:53 or heads of institutions.
04:56 This is done at all levels of administration,
05:00 from local districts to ministries and embassies.
05:04 Those who fail to achieve the set targets
05:08 are held accountable.
05:11 Within the framework of reducing transaction costs,
05:16 improving service delivery, and empowering citizens,
05:20 Rwanda has embarked on a complete digitization
05:25 of public services.
05:27 As a result, today over 90% of our government services
05:32 can be accessed online.
05:34 And we continue working to have all services digitized
05:39 by 2024, meaning by end of next year.
05:43 Distinguished guests, before I conclude,
05:46 I would like to emphasize three key points.
05:50 One, bringing resilience to local government
05:54 is crucial to cope with emerging challenges and shocks.
06:00 Two, our country's ability to respond effectively
06:04 to various shocks and maintain resilience
06:08 will rely on strengthening governance
06:10 and on strong local entities.
06:14 These are the key enablers of socioeconomic transformation.
06:18 Three, it is important to ensure that more than 60%
06:23 of the population aged 29 or under that
06:27 live in Commonwealth countries are
06:30 a catechol in our development plan.
06:33 I would like to reiterate the government of Rwanda's
06:37 commitment to the vision and mission of Commonwealth.
06:43 I wish you a very productive conference and pleasant stay
06:47 in our country, Rwanda.
06:50 On this note, it is now my pleasure
06:52 to declare the 10th Commonwealth Conference, Local Government
06:57 Conference, officially open.
06:59 [APPLAUSE]
07:06 Thank you so much.
07:08 [MUSIC PLAYING]