Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), on Thursday 28th September 2017 awarded competitive grants worth three hundred million Rwandan francs (300,000,000 Frws) to 12 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), in a move aimed at fostering responsive and accountable governance. This was the second group to receive the grants out of the 75 CSOs whose project proposals were selected for funding. The 12 CSOs will get each 25 million Rwandan francs (25,000,000 Frws). The proposals that were deemed fundable fall under thematic areas that include social protection and public health, environmental protection for green growth and climate resilience and extension services in agriculture and livestock. One of the grant beneficiaries, SODECO, intends to use the grant to bring clean water into a settlement inhabited by genocide orphans and widows in Bugesera District through rain water harvesting. Speaking during the grant awarding ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of RGB, Prof Shyaka Anastase commended how Rwanda’s Civil Society has widened the scope of their activities in different sectors. “Traditionally, Civil Society is known as a sector that deals with soft issues but we are so happy that in the current setup of the selected programs, we have a diversity of projects which were once regarded as an exclusivity of government. This signals that our Civil Society has matured”, Prof Shyaka said. The CEO of RGB further lauded government institutions that have committed funds to support CSOs intervening in their respective areas of interest. These include Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF), the Ministry of Justice MINIJUST and Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA). The One UN Rwanda Resident Coordinator, Fodé Ndiaye, commended the Government of Rwanda “for facilitating CSOs important role in strengthening transformational governance”. He urged them to build on the grant opportunity, to make sure that their work is impactful. He further noted: “One UN will continue working closely with the program and we hope that many other development partners will join us so that we can sustain the gains that the program has already recorded”. The grants are awarded through a joint Government of Rwanda and Development Partners’ program which is now in its send cycle.   The program, spearheaded by Rwanda Governance Board and One UN Rwanda, aims at contributing to the overall implementation of the Second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS 2) as well as the United Nations Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP 2013 -2018).