7015-01. SEA Coaching IWRM Rwanda

Rwanda has adopted Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as its key policy approach to sustainably manage its water resources. The Netherlands financially and technically supported the implementation of IWRM through a four-year programme that started in May 2015. The programme was executed by the Rwanda Natural Resources Authority (RNRA) and an International Support Unit (ISU). During the programme, catchment plans were developed for four Demonstration Catchments. According to Rwanda’s regulations, these plans needed to undergo Strategic Environmental Assessment.

Advisory reports and other documents

Significant details

SEA is most effective when neatly integrated with the plan process it is linked to. Scoping for SEA for catchment plans will therefore need to be done in the same period in which the provisional catchment plans are to be developed. The NCEA received a request from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN) in Kigali and the RNRA/ISU to help define the scope for the SEAs in four demonstration catchment areas, and strengthen capacity for SEA through learning by doing.

Activities started with a national SEA workshop in Musanze in October 2015, during which different relevant ministries and other partners were introduced with the concept of SEA and how it can be applied to catchment planning. After that, an SEA roadmap was developed. Scoping started with a series of workshops and consultations of district representatives - grouped into Catchment Taskforces in the four Demonstration Catchments - as of March 2016 up to the end of the year.

The request for coaching was preceded by a request from the Netherlands Embassy in Kigali for an independent advice on SEA for IWRM in 2012. At that stage, the IWRM support programme was not yet formulated and its scope not yet known. An NCEA working group visited Rwanda and published an advisory report entitled 'Scoping advice for Dutch IWRM support programme in Rwanda', in January 2013. This advice contains recommendations for SEA at different levels: for the support programme itself, for the national water resources master plan, and for catchment plans. These recommendations continue to form an input to the current coaching trajectory.

In preparation for SEA for catchment planning, RNRA has asked NCEA to also conduct a quick scan of the National Water Resources Master Plan, to assess the integration of environmental and sustainable development concerns and to know whether relevant water services were taken into account in a consistent way. 

The ‘Quick Scan (Review) of the National Water Resources Master Plan for Rwanda, draft January 2014’ , dated August 4, 2015, has been submitted as a memorandum of the NCEA to the Director of the Water Department at RNRA.

Throughout 2016, the NCEA acted as facilitator and coach in steps of the scoping process for four catchment plans/SEA. A roadmap for the SEA was developed and stakeholder consultations conducted. After scoping was concluded, the NCEA's coaching work ended while RNRA and Dutch consultants started work on the assessment phase itself.

Parties involved

Members of the working group

Technical secretary: Gwen van Boven

Further details

Country: Rwanda

Last modified: 16 Nov 2022