Every year, Nile Basin Discourse Forum (NBDF) Rwanda holds a General Assembly (GA) meeting for its membership. This year’s AGM was held on the 17th August 2021 at Nobleza Hotel in kicukiro, Kigali; with 45 out of 47 member organisations in attendance.

In the capacity of the Guest of Honour, the assemby was graced by the Nile Technical Advisory Committee (Nile-TAC) member for Rwanda Ms. Jacqueline Nyirakamana who is also the Chair of the Regional Nile-TAC.

The roles of the General Assembly as elaborated in the organisation’s constitution are: to approve organisation’s policies, plans, budgets and reports and with far reaching objectives of re-energizing NBDF’s performance; reviewing of the annual narrative and financial reports; reviewing existing policies and proposing of new desired organizational policies.

The board chairperson Ms Verdiane Nyiramana updated the GA on the current status of the organization; first with the changes that have been made at the secretariat since 2018 when the previous Coordinator left. She highlighted the progress for the revival of NBDF Rwanda and the commitment of the Board of Directors towards the growth of the forum. She emphasised that there is hope for having a strong NBDF Rwanda going forward and thanked the commitment from both the Coordinator and the Board Members.

The GA reviewed the Annual Report 2020 which notably took a short time since a few activities were implemented in that year because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated lock-down that greatly hampered the organisation’s activities.

The Guest of Honour expressed gratitude for the invitation to officiate at the GA and recognized the good partnership between the Ministry of Environment and NBDF Rwanda. The Nile-TAC chair highlighted the available opportunities for Nile Basin Discourse in general, including the Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience (NCCR) Project in which the NBD Regional body has been allocated funds for stakeholder engagement from which NBDF Rwanda can benefit. She emphasized a few points: cooperation among member organizations; to continue producing the Intervention Report of Civil Societies; and to align NBDF Rwanda activities with the Ministry of Environment objectives.

The GA elected Dr Safari Emmanuel as the new Board Vice Chairperson, filling up a position that has been vacant for a while. Dr Safari has been the Legal Advisor to the Board, a post he will still hold until the Board identifies another befitting individual within the network to take on the responsibility.
The GA appreciated the NBDF Secretariat for what they were able to accomplish amidst the tough funding challenges and encouraged the coordinator to put more focus on resources mobilization going forward.

The assebly equally thanked the NBDF Board for providing oversight to the NBDF secretariat and tasked the Chairperson to continue working hand-in-hand with the coordinator, providing support until the secretariat is well strengthened.

The Assembly applauded the role of the NBD Regional Secretariat in Uganda for supporting NBDF-Rwanda and requested it to continue doing so and opening of more opportunities for joint projects.

Overall, this year’s GA was a success; the attendance of members was quite satisfactory and the forum leadership was able to pleasingly give accountability to the NBDF membership.

Author: UWAMAHORO Lydia
National Technical Support Expert – Rwanda NDF