About Rwanda

The Republic of Rwanda is the densest population in continental Africa, with approximately 10 million people.

In recent years, Rwanda has suffered social unrest and many people have become refugees in Burundi and Uganda. In 1990 Rwanda was invaded from Uganda by the Rwandan Patriotic Front. An agreement was reached in 1993 to end the civil war. However, shortly after, the Rwandan president was assassinated and this gave rise to genocide and massacres.

Over the course of approximately 100 days, from April 6 through to mid July 1994, between 800,000 and 1,000,000 people were killed. During the genocide many people were burned alive in their houses, children were thrown down pit latrines and buried alive, and unspeakable atrocities were carried out on women. Thousands of women were raped during the genocide and are now suffering from HIV or full blown AIDS. Hundreds of thousands of widows and orphans were left behind. Rwanda’s infrastructure was destroyed and nearly 3 million people became refugees.

Considerable progress has been made since 1994, however, it is estimated that around 60% of Rwanda’s population still lives below the national poverty line. As a result, many people find it hard to find food and cannot afford to send children to school. Around 80% of the people are dependent on farming for food and income.

Facts & Figures

• 390,000 Rwandan children are currently out of school (Republic of Rwanda 2002)
• 29 percent of Rwandan children are orphans and/or vulnerable (Rwanda Standard DHS 2005)
• 26 percent of school age children are out of school (UNESCO 2005)
• Seventy percent of the population of Rwanda is female Half of them are estimated to be widows.
• 500,000 Rwandans are infected with HIV
• Around 60% of Rwandans live on less than $1 per day (around 50p)
• Life expectancy is 45 years (men), 48 years (women) (UN)
• Children dying before age 5: 103 per 1,000 live births (Interim DHS, 2008). UK: 6 per 1,000 (UNSD, 2005)