126.
The Girinka programme (one cow per family) was put in place to
reduce malnutrition through consumption of milk and has increased
agriculture production through production of organic manure and boosted
family incomes through the sale of milk.
Article 16 (2) d: The right to adequate housing
127.
Several guarantees mentioned in the 2009 periodic report are still into
force in Rwanda.33 Various policies and strategies to promote access to clean
water, sanitation and hygiene have been developed. Housing conditions are
also improving. Households with grass roofing (nyakatsi) dropped to 0.4% in
2014 from 2.2% in 2011 while roofing with metal sheet increased from 54.4%
to 61.1%. Today, grass thatched shelters have effectively been phased out of
Rwanda. Electricity access in Rwanda is growing rapidly, grid connections
through the government’s Electricity Access Roll-out Programme (EARP)
and related initiatives have increased from about 160,000 households in 2012
to 570,000 households (24% of the total) by February 2016. Water and
sanitation improved as well with households using improved sanitation
(toilets) increasing to 83.4% in 2014; while during the same period
households with access to improved sources of drinking water increased to
84.8%.
128. The government has extended assistance to those living in rural areas to
acquire low cost housing by distributing so far 416 block making machines,
100 tile making machines, constructed kilns for low cost burning of tiles and
brivks in Gasabo, Nyaruguru, Nyanza, Bugesera, Rusizi and Gatsibo. 570
young people have been trained 19 from each district in the use of the
machines and a budget of 7,571,750 RWF given to each district; a training
construction of one model house was done and roofing of 10 houses and so
far 130 houses have been constructed in different districts around the
country.34
16 (1): The right to physical and mental health
129. Since the last report, a number of laws have been put in place to realise the
right to health:
33
34
See the 2009 periodic report pages 49-51.
www.rha.gov.rw / consulted in June 2015
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