The contingency plan draws on historical facts and experiences of floods and landslides in coming up with scenario managers and assumptions to combat such issues as they may arise. The plan prioritises places and regions especially prone to floods and landslides. Its overall objective is to ensure a timely and coordinated response to floods and landslides disasters, in a bid to minimise their effects on citizens, properties, and the environment.

The plan expressly addresses the management activities to be carried out by stakeholders when handling disaster situations. Prominent disasters faced in Rwanda include; droughts, fire, floods, earthquakes, landslides, heavy rain with strong winds, lightning and thunderstorms, traffic accidents, diseases and epidemics.

This serves as a revised policy to the national disaster management policy of 2009. The policy sets out to establish the guiding principles for stakeholders. It highlights the roles, institutional structures, authorities, and key processes crucial to mounting a coordinated approach at decision making and effective response and management of disasters.

The contingency plan charts the course of action to be taken as part of efforts to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from droughts. The National Contingency Plan for Drought is a multi-sectoral plan to maximally reduce drought impacts via institutional coordination, enhance monitoring and early warning capabilities, water shortage impact assessments, and preparedness, response, and recovery programs. The plan identifies an integrated, regional approach to addressing drought and drought action levels.

“The law provides for the general principles governing general offences and penalties in Rwanda. It governs, among other things, the degradation or destruction of property belonging to others; the destruction or degradation of trees, crops and agricultural implements; removal or displacement of geodetic signals or landmarks; Removal, displacement or degradation of the terminals; abuse, injure or kill pets. The law also makes provisions for all genocidal offences against humanity committed between October 1990 and December 1994”.

The law states that the primary responsibility of disaster management in Rwanda falls on the government. It has 16 distinct guiding principles for disaster management situations. The law places a premium on people with disabilities in the areas of relief and assistance services. It categorises disasters into 4; Category 1, relating to sector disaster, managed with sector resources; Category 2, relating to disasters occurring at the district level, and managed with district resources; Category 3, relating to disasters occurring at the district level, and managed with resources of the ministry in charge of disaster management; and Category 4, relating to disasters out of the reach of the country’s resources.

Attaining an inclusive, united, democratic, and prosperous country is one of the long term visions of Rwanda. It thus becomes important to ensure the women in the country are empowered towards the promotion of their socio-economic wellbeing and effective and unhindered political participation. The national gender policy sets out as a multisectoral government policy, providing the overarching principles to be integrated into the policies and guidelines of all actors, decision-makers, and stakeholders in the country. It seeks to incorporate gender issues into the country’s economic development and poverty reduction strategy (EDPRS), to ensure prompt attention is paid to the policy during implementation. The policy’s overall objective is to promote gender equality across all sectors in Rwanda.

The law establishes the Office for the promotion of development in Rwanda (RDB) and determines its mission, its organization and its functioning. It is to be supervised by the office of the President of the Republic.

The Law determines the organisation, jurisdiction, competence and functioning of the Abunzi Committee. The law defines an Abunzi committee as an organ responsible for conciliating parties involved in disputes under its jurisdiction and based on the Rwandan traditions. The service of members of the Abunzi Committee is performed on a voluntary and non-remunerative basis. It states that there shall be established, an Abunzi committee at the cell level with jurisdiction over the cell, and an Abunzi committee of appeal at the sector level with jurisdiction over the sector.

The ministerial order determines the mobilization of actors and volunteers, and their functions during disaster management. The ministry of disaster cooperates with districts and national platforms for volunteer mobilization during disasters. Prominently addressed are criteria for volunteer selection, duties, commencement and ending of volunteering, training, deployment, and response action instructions.

The Presidential order ratifies the general convention of cooperation for development between the kingdom of Belgium and the Republic of Rwanda signed at Kigali on the 18th day of May 2004. The ministers of finance and economic planning, and foreign affairs and cooperation are charged with implementation.

The law establishes the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and determines its mission, organization and functioning. The board enjoys legal personality and administrative and financial autonomy. It is charged, among others with; accelerating development activities and promoting private sector integration, promoting investments in the country, as well as exports to other countries, cooperate with other regional and international institutions with a similar mandate, and playing an advisory role to the government on activities to fast track development in Rwanda.

The law establishes the Rwanda governance board as a public institution enjoying legal personality, administrative and financial autonomy. The institution is independent and shall not receive instructions from any other institution. Among others, its responsibilities include; “to regularly monitor the service delivery and the compliance with the principles of good governance in public and private sector as well as in non-governmental organisations; to conduct research on governance in Rwanda, explore citizens’ perception with service delivery and disseminate the findings; and to preserve, protect and promote the use of home-grown solutions in Rwanda and devise strategies meant for applying them efficiently”.

The Prime Minister’s order highlights the list of drugs or chemical substances prohibited for sale, storage, distribution of any form, and importation and exportation unless authorized or given temporary permission. It also highlights the procedures and requirements for the issuance of temporary authorization or permission.

The order determines the quantity and quality of rations be provided for incarcerated people. “The High Council of the Rwanda Correctional Service shall determine the ratio of an incarcerated person. The ration must have at least two thousand one hundred (2100) calories composed of cereal, leguminous, water, salt, oil and other vital food for the good health of an incarcerated person”.

The law determines the organization and functioning of the decentralized administrative entities. The decentralised administrative entities are; the City of Kigali, Districts, Sectors, Cells and Villages. The entities shall be governed by their respective Councils. The Ministry of local government shall monitor the functioning of the management organs of these entities. Of the entities, the city of Kigali and the districts shall have legal personalities of their own and shall enjoy financial and administrative autonomy.

The law repeals the 2010 law establishing the Rwanda Natural Resources Authority (RNSA).

“The Law applies to several public-private partnership arrangements, including management contract, whereby a Contracting Authority awards a partner the right to manage and perform a specific service concerning an infrastructure facility or other asset for an agreed period, and “Build-Operate-Own” “BOO”, whereby private partner finance, designs, constructs, owns and operates an infrastructure facility or other asset to provide services. The law however does not apply to; contracts subject to the law governing public procurement, and the privatization or divestiture of enterprises, assets and any infrastructure facility owned by the Government”.

The Prime Minister’s order focuses on the organization and functioning of the disaster management organs in Rwanda, namely; National Disaster Management Committee (NADIMAC), National Disaster Management Technical Committee (NADIMATEC), District Disaster Management Committee (DIDIMAC), Sector Disaster Management Committee (SEDIMAC), and the National Platform for Disaster Management (NPDM).

This represents the prime minister’s instructions determining the organization and functioning of the national early childhood development program (NECDP). The set of instructions determines the mission of NECDP, personnel management, budget allocation, organizational structure, powers and responsibilities, and salaries and fringe benefits.