Between July 18-30, 2021 the government of Rwanda distributed around seven thousand tones of food relief to more than 327 thousand families in Kigali city and eight districts who were in a 15-day lockdown.

The cabinet meeting that took place on July 14, 2021 announced a 10-day lockdown that was extended later to 15 days, following a third wave of COVID-19 that hit the country.

The following day July 15th, the government availed part of the national food reserves in order to support vulnerable families and families who earn their living through the daily work they do.

On their side, local government officials in concerned entities prepared lists of families that need the support and made arrangements for the transport and packaging of the foodstuff from national reserves as well as the delivery to families’ home.

Local government officials in Kigali city and districts of Burera, Musanze, Gicumbi, Kamonyi, Nyagatare, Rwamagana, Rubavu and Rutsiro begun delivering food to vulnerable families in a door-to-door approach, thanks to the Youth Volunteers who spent days and nights packing and delivering food to families in need.

People from across the country thank the government of Rwanda for supporting them through these tough times of lockdown.

“We received the food relief for the first phase on time, and the second round was also delivered on time, we thank our government very much. The foodstuff will help us to go through this lockdown without a problem.” KANEZA Josiane, a citizen in Kangondo II, Gasabo District.

On the other hand, Hon. Gatabazi Jean Marie Vianney, the minister of local government thank citizens for the good behavior they manifested during this activity.

“This has been a very good experience and it has showed that the government of Rwanda cares about its citizens, it also demonstrates that the government is capable of catering for the citizens in challenging situations like this one. We call upon all citizens to keep complying with health guidelines to avoid lockdowns in the near future.” Minister Gatabazi

This exercise was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, around five thousand tones of beans, maize flour and rice were distributed to more than 327 thousand families including 103 thousand families who were not on the initial list. The new claimants submitted theirs food request via local authorities, tool free calls, short messages, and social media platforms of the Ministry of Local Government, city of Kigali and other concerned eight districts. In the second round the government distributed about 2,500 tones to the same families.

End