ReliefWeb

In Numbers

227.814 MT of food assistance distributed

US$ 1,085,256 cash-based transfers

US$ 18 m six months net funding requirements for the next six months (August 2020 -January 2021).

138,036 people assisted in July 2020

Operational Updates

Refugee Assistance: WFP reached 138,036 refugees with food assistance in July, including 74,985 Congolese refugees, 62,980 Burundian refugees, and 71 asylum seekers hosted in Kijote Transit Centre. School feeding activities in the camps were not implemented as schools remain closed. However, nutrition activities for vulnerable groups continued to be implemented.
\ On 24 July 2020, a meeting was convened by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to assess the COVID-19 situation in refugee camps. An agreement was reached to apply additional measures in all refugee camps to curb the spread of the virus.

These include activating lockdown, set up of COVID-19 treatment centers in and around refugee camps, and the deployment of health personnel to manage the treatment centers. A taskforce team comprised of MoH, Ministry of Emergency Management (MINEMA), Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) and UNHCR will ensure the implementation of these measures.

WFP began providing food assistance to over 500 refugees in designated quarantine sites in refugee camps. Refugees returning to camps from other locations are placed in designated quarantine sites for observation and COVID-19 tests.

They are allowed to enter the camps once they have received a negative COVID-19 test.

Social Protection: WFP undertook a Community-Based Participatory Process (CBPP) − a programme planning tool for communities, governments and partners. The process aimed to develop community development plans for the next five years in 10 sectors of 7 districts . The analysis of livelihood challenges, opportunities and prioritization of activities from the CBPP sessions will be used as a part of WFP’s resilience and social protection activities as well as inform the government’s social protection programming at the local level.

Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF): The second National School Feeding Technical Working group co-chaired by WFP and the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) took place in July. This brought together representative from governments, NGOs, and development partners. The meeting focused on the scale up of the national school feeding programme once schools reopen. A National School Feeding Steering Committee was also approved, and four sub-task forces were established which will focus on key priority areas to support the roll out of the programme scale-up.

Nutrition: Following the easing of COVID-19 related restrictions,
WFP and partners initiated the scale-up of the Smart Simplicity approach to reduce stunting in Rwanda with the roll-out of the mother and child score card tools in the Rambura sector of Nyabihu district . This was implemented in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) alongside the National Early Childhood Development Program (NECDP). The roll-out in Rambura sector is expected to be finalized in August 2020.

Smallholder Agricultural Market Support: WFP began supporting the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources to update its post-harvest and agro-processing strategy, in collaboration with Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other stakeholders.
In preparation for the upcoming main agricultural season, WFP began conducting pre-season assessments to identify smallholder farmer’s needs ahead of planting season in September 2020. WFP also began pre-implementation assessments for a cross-border programme, aimed at encouraging trade and shared prosperity between border communities of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The programme will be implemented jointly with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and FAO.