The University of Kigali (UoK) has renewed its partnership with the Imbuto Foundation, a Rwanda-based Non-governmental Organization with a focus on intervention programmes in Education, Youth Empowerment and Health. At a meeting held at UoK on 20th October 2023 to sign an MoU between both institutions, the Chairman of UoK’s Governing Body, Mr. Philibert Afrika announced the university’s decision to increase the number of scholarships awarded to high school graduates from the Foundation from 10 to 15, adding that the decision is in alignment with UoK’s commitment to promoting quality higher education for all, especially girls. Thus, going forward, 15 qualified high school graduates from the Imbuto Foundation will be awarded full scholarships to pursue academic programmes at University of Kigali.
Mr. Afrika emphasized the need for both parties to ensure an accurate monitoring and assessment of the MoU implementation process, performance of the scholarship beneficiaries as well as the statistics of the number of beneficiaries to ensure the attainment of measurable mutual benefits for the parties involved. He assured the Imbuto team of commitment and continuous support from the university’s Board of Promoters.
Speaking about some achievements of the Foundation in terms of education, Mr. Jackson Vugayabugabo, the Ag. Director General of Imbuto Foundation mentioned that the initial programme of the Foundation prioritized the support of rape victims during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and the provision of medical assistance both for them and their children.
The second programme is the Girls in Education Programme which focuses on funding higher education for girls, while other programmes focused on Health and Youth Empowerment. He added that the Foundation is introducing new programmes to facilitate comprehensive growth for beneficiaries.
According to Mr. Vugayabugabo, the Imbuto Foundation has sponsored 25 students at the high school level and 30 students at the university level since its inception in 2001. He acknowledged UoK’s valuable support to the Foundation over the years and pledged his commitment to ensuring the MoU’s successful implementation and long-term sustainability for the partnership.