Kigali - The National Umushyikirano Council opened on Monday, 27 February 2023 at the Kigali Convention centre bringing together over 1500 participants including leaders at the central and local government level, representatives of the Rwandan community abroad, Civil Society Organizations, media and the diplomatic community to discuss the state of the nation, review the country's progress and shape the future. 

In his opening remarks, President Kagame reminded the participants of the necessity to work hard as a nation to ensure that the culture of dependency is eradicated. 

“Rwandans, Africans cannot be assisted forever. God did not put this great African Continent and its people - over 1.3 billion - and decide that they will go to waste just to live in poverty, fed by others, pitied, abused, assisted, and you believe it? How is that possible?What I am saying that requires us to join efforts, work hard, do quality work, in order to ensure sustainability, follow-up, all that is to ensure that Rwandans are not in need of aid forever. There is no dignity in it.” President Kagame said.

Governed by the Rwandan Constitution (Article 168), and rooted in the Rwandan culture, Umushyikirano is a forum for national dialogue where Rwandans gather to assess issues related to the state of the nation, functioning of the decentralized structures, and national unity.  Participants include members of the Cabinet and Parliament, representatives of the Rwandan community abroad, local government, Civil Society Organizations, media and the diplomatic community and others invited by the President. Those unable to attend in person can participate via telephone, SMS, Social Media as well as follow the debate live on television and radio. 

The 18th Umushyikirano provided an opportunity to reflect on post-pandemic recovery, reimagining and galvanizing collective efforts in shaping Rwanda’s transformational agenda, today and towards agenda 2050 as well as discussing the implementation status of the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1) that is drawing close to an end.

Also at the opening of Umushyikirano 2023, the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda presented the findings of the 5th Population and Housing National Census.