His Excellency Paul Kagame
President of the Republic of Rwanda
The Republic of Rwanda, under the leadership of President Paul Kagame, has made enormous progress in the communications sector, extending Internet accessibility, improving infrastructure, integrating ICTs, as well as prioritizing e-Health and digital literacy initiatives.
Under his leadership, Rwanda has transformed into a nation that is progressing rapidly towards its ambitious vision for socio-economic development, peace and reconciliation. President Paul Kagame co-chairs the UN Millennium Development Goals Advocacy Group as well as the International Telecommunication Union's Broadband Commission for Digital Development. He has received international recognition for his leadership in peace building and reconciliation, development, good governance, promotion of human rights, women’s empowerment, and ICT. In 2014 he received ITU’s World Telecommunication and Information Society Award. In 2013, the Republic of Rwanda became a member of the Smart Africa Initiative, which promotes collaboration in ICT development in Africa. The same year, during the Transform Africa Summit, President Kagame emphasized the importance of ICTs in our modern era stating, “In the year 2000, we decided to put ICT at the centre of Rwanda's development agenda, and build the ecosystem to sustain these efforts into the future. Today our people are reaping the benefits of this choice.” From 2005 to 2010, Internet user growth rate reached a remarkable 8.90 per cent, well above the world average. Rwanda has also implemented ICT initiatives aimed at improving education and healthcare. By working with the One Laptop per Child organization in late 2012, Rwanda distributed over 115,000 laptops to children throughout the country. In healthcare, new innovative programmes have been launched. OpenMRS, an Open Medical Record System, is an “e-Health” initiative that provides patient data tracking and database synchronization tools.
In recognition of outstanding leadership and initiative, it is our honour to present His Excellency, Mr. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, with the ICTs in Sustainable Development Award.
