May 2014—Rwanda is on the move. It’s one of the only countries expected to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, and is already a leader on the continent in the areas of health care and economic growth. The successes are remarkable, but in order to be sustainable over the long term, Rwanda’s local institutions have to be healthy and high-performing.

To help Rwanda achieve the sustainability it desires, the USAID-funded Human and Institutional Capacity Development project supports the country's government institutions and civil society organizations using the internationally recognized Human Performance Technology (HPT) approaches to demonstrably improve performance. The approaches include rigorous assessments of organizational needs and developing solutions to help organizations create a strategic vision, strengthen communications and internal systems, and better prepare for and adapt to challenges and changing circumstances.

The project seeks to institutionalize HPT approaches within Rwanda’s government and private sector, and has established a community of practice for professional Rwandan consultants seeking to incorporate the tools and processes into their work. Beginning in 2013, the project provided intensive training to 60 consultants through six training sessions. It also provided coaching and mentorship, and offered paid internships to qualified consultants to use their new skills and help the project conduct performance analysis.

The project also held a series of workshops to help consultants apply to the International Society for Performance Improvement to become certified performance technologists (CPTs) with the vision that Rwanda will soon become the most highly CPT-certified country on the continent, and thus a regional resource.

Rebecca Ruzibuka, a member of the community of practice, was one of the first consultants to join the trainings and earned an internship to assist three civil society organizations. Throughout the training, project staff mentored her on the CPT application and, in October 2013, she became the second Rwandan CPT. Since then, the approach has gained momentum in Rwanda. As proof, Ruzibuka was recently named the 2013 Female Consultant of the Year by the Rwanda Organization of Professional Consultants (ROPC).

Ruzibuka has gone on to assist other community of practice and ROPC members with their CPT applications, and to share her experiences.

"I enjoy being an ambassador for HPT and performance improvement in Rwanda," says Ruzibuka. “I was lucky to be one of the early adopters of this approach, and I feel responsible to share it to help Rwanda develop and grow, and to improve the professionalism of the consulting industry here. I also appreciate that my use of HPT approaches contributed to my being selected as [female] Consultant of the Year."

The five-year Human and Institutional Capacity Development project began in 2012. The project aims to help government institutions and civil society organizations improve overall performance and responsiveness to citizen needs in a manner that supports Rwanda's development goals and fosters the long-term social, economic and environmental sustainability of the country.

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