Kigali, November 12, 2018: The Right. Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Edouard Ngirente today officially opened the 5th International Conference on Family Planning.

In attendance were also Her Excellency Jeanette Kagame, the First Lady of the Republic of Rwanda, Her Excellency the First Lady of the Republic of Haiti, and several other authorities and delegates from 110 countries.

In his remarks the Prime Minister insisted on the importance of quality family planning services as strong means of improving the lives of women, children and families. He also stated that Family planning is not only a woman’s issue but it is a developmental issue that affects us all.

In this regard, he hailed family planning as one of the most cost-effective ways of enhancing the well-being of the people in all countries.

The Prime Minister further recalled that family planning alone would not address all developmental issues. Other factors such as better planning, good governance, good attitude towards work, human capital development and especially Early Childhood Development Program (ECDP) must complement it.

The Premier reminded participants about the various initiatives to support purposeful family planning programs that are being implemented by the Government of Rwanda, these include: the availability of family planning services in all villages; expand existing information and dissemination programs about family planning to the general public; and introduce long lasting contraceptive methods in all health care facilities. “Our target is to increase contraceptive prevalence to at least 60% by 2024 as reflected in our National Strategy for Transformation, 2017-2024.” The Premier added.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Investing for a Lifetime of Returns”. The Premier revealed some of the strategies that were adopted by the Government of Rwanda to achieve that target by underlining that Rwanda understands that implementing all programs related to family planning is to invest for a Lifetime of Returns.