Water Resources Management Strategy 2011-2015. Country/Territory Rwanda Document type Date 2011 Source FAO, FAOLEX Subject Environment gen., Water Keyword Disasters Risk assessment/management Environmental planning Early warning system/emergency intervention system Governance Public participation Gender Poverty Climate change Environmental security Policy/planning Freshwater resources management Integrated management Sustainable development Sustainable use Freshwater quality/freshwater pollution Irrigation Groundwater Community management Basin/catchment/watershed Waterworks Water shortage/drought Flood Transboundary effects Pollution control Geographical area Africa, AFRICA FAO, Eastern Africa, Landlocked Developing Countries, Least Developed Countries Abstract This Water Resources Management Strategy 2011-2015 of the Ministry of Natural Resources primarily seeks to operationalise the National Water Resources Management Policy, which was recently formulated by the Government. It will enhance stakeholder engagement (especially private sector participation) and improve financing and coordinated planning. National development towards a medium income country with a healthy and productive population, as laid out in Vision 2020 and medium term plans, such as the second being the Economic Development and Poverty reduction Strategy (EDPRS) 2007-2012, implies strong demands on the country’s water resources. Strategic exploration and productive utilisation of water resources such as through hydropower production, supplying clean water to all Rwandans, expanding irrigated agriculture, and supporting industrialisation, will increase considerably. To meet this demand sustainably, Rwanda will restore the productivity of its watersheds, control pollution and promote efficient use. It will also have to strengthen the synergy among the different sectors dependent on water resources. Rainwater harvesting is being piloted, a number of watershed rehabilitation projects are ongoing, and we have adopted a Sector-wide Approach (SWAp). Thus the main challenge of this strategy is meeting increasing multiple water demands, in the face of declining water quantity and quality, and inadequate governance framework. Full text English