His Excellency, Paul Kagame, the President of the Republic of Rwanda, attended the inaugural session of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency’s Leadership Council (ALC) in Kigali, Rwanda, held February 12th through 15th.

Opening the session with President Kagame in attendance, Pastor Lowell Cooper, ADRA International Board Chair, said, "We pray that the nation of Rwanda will know peace in every city, village, and home; that it will be a country under the rule of just laws; that every citizen will be accorded the dignity deserved by every human being."

Attended by ADRA network leadership from 33 countries, the ALC refines global strategies for effective development and emergency response interventions while enhancing sound business management practices of the agency. ALC participants are also providing input to the new network Strategic Planning Committee, led by Mario Ochoa, executive vice president for ADRA International, which is working on agency strategic plans for 2007 through 2012.

"Being here adds force to what you are trying to do to help build a new nation, to concretize strategic plans, and to share experiences of leadership," President Paul Kagame, said. "We appreciate the role that ADRA continues to play in this region. We will be partners in this task. There is a long history between the Seventh-day Adventist church and ADRA through its 30 years of working in this country," he continued.

ADRA Rwanda is currently implementing multi-year projects focused on long-term sustainability, valued at more than US$14 million [= €10,7 million] and reaching 450,000 community partners.

"One of ADRA’s projects works with local associations and cooperatives through a Swamp Reclamation program for the production of rice, impacting 33,000 people," Charles Sandefur, ADRA International President, said. "We’re also fortifying those associations and cooperatives to increase self-sustainability. As a direct result, they’re better able to guide farmers, and they have taken on the development role themselves."

ADRA’s approach to development is partnership-based. Community partners are given the tools and resources they need to improve their own living standards, providing economic independence and dignity. In 2006 alone, ADRA touched the lives of more than 24 million people, recognizing the dignity inherent in each person without regard for ethnic, political, or religious association.

"Two hundred million people in sub-Saharan Africa face hunger and malaria, and AIDS continues to claim lives. Any development agenda must be well coordinated to ensure that marginalized communities are part and parcel of the development process. Through this approach, genuine partnership and ownership can be realized," President Kagame, continued.

Rwandese youth groups form a powerful partnership for change, and ADRA is working with 118,000 young people in primary and secondary schools in the west province in a health and HIV and AIDS awareness program. Through poetry, dance, and anti-AIDS messages focusing on prevention and lifestyle change, these young people empower others with their knowledge.

"The world is faced with intractable conflicts, President Kagame continued, “and as we pursue peace and welfare, we trust that ADRA will continue to spare no effort to create a better world for all. We hope ADRA will place itself in the hands of humanity to be an agent of change and to give hope and a future promise to all whom its serves."

"ADRA is officially recognized, in Rwanda, as one of just two NGOs that did not take part in that country’s 1994 genocide, and ADRA was the last international NGO that left the country because of raging hostilities. In the Genocide Memorial in Kigali, ADRA receives an honorable mention for its efforts, in collaboration with the International Red Cross, in saving the lives of close to 400 orphans, internally displaced people, and people who survived being wounded and thrown into mass graves.

While in Rwanda, the ALC group visited the Genocide memorial where the agency made a donation and laid a floral wreath", Sandefur explains. "The memorial’s clear message of hope and peace is synonymous with ADRA’s values and commitment to justice. It was a very moving experience." [Editor: Tereza Byrne for ADRA International and APD]

More information about ADRA International, currently one of the leading non-governmental relief organizations in the world, can be found online at www.adra.org