Assessment of environmental and climate impacts of GIZ programme in Rwanda

Rwanda’s economy has achieved significant growth rates in recent years and is increasingly recognised for its economic potential. But despite high numbers of school graduates entering Rwanda’s job market every year, the country’s potential for private sector growth is not yet fully captured. Therefore, the GIZ, on behalf of BMZ, is implementing the programme Eco-Emploi (06/2013 – 05/2016). The programme aims at improving sustainable employment in Rwanda through interventions in the following areas: Technical and Vocational Education and Traingin (TVET), skills development, labour market development, and private sector development.

In July 2015, an in-depth environmental and climate change mitigation assessment has been conducted by adelphi as part of the interim programme evaluation and the preparatory process for the follow-up Eco-Emploi 3 programme. The objective of the assessment was to identify potential negative programme impacts on the environment and the climate, as well as to find ways how positive impacts could be achieved. Given that the Eco-Emploi programme addresses questions of resource efficiency and cleaner production in private enterprises on the one hand, as well as teacher training and vocational education in the renewable energies sector on the other, environmental and climate-related impacts are likely.

In order to identity these impacts, adelphi has analysed programme documents and conducted interviews with selected national and international stakeholders. Based on the analysis, recommendations for the future programme design have been developed. These recommendations included, for instance, the integration of environmental and climate issues in Rwanda’s TVET programmes to create better environmental and climate consciousness among the future workforce, an increased engagement with the recycling industry to promote e-waste management as well as better cooperation between the automotive sector and training facilities for using end-of-life vehicles for training purposes.