Rwanda as a state party has also engaged initiatives to enhance awareness-raising and participation of Rwandan civil society in the 2005 Convention implementation, through both dedicated workshops and multi-stakeholders meetings. By conducting research on cultural and local content production in Rwanda’s media sector, the Rwanda Media High Council (MHC) has built a sustainable media regulatory system, the Media Hub, which ensures media freedom and promotes and protects media professionalism for development. Such measures have significantly contributed to regional integration and sustainable development through the production and dissemination of cultural and artistic performances as well as peace promotion activities among EAC states. The ratification of the Convention, in addition to the existing political will has further enhanced regional cooperation especially through the East African Community (EAC) arts and culture festival (JAMAFEST). These initiatives still need to be scaled- up to benefit a much wider audience. The establishment of Umuganura (Harvest celebrations) has not only contributed to the rebirth of national pride and sustainable agricultural practices but has also been adapted to serve as a platform for reflection and adoption of bottom-up solutions for sustainable socio-cultural development. The awareness-raising and outreach programs have also been created in order to facilitate access to cultural heritage and social capital during popular holidays in the museum initiative. School-going children can now access books and contents that are culturally relevant. Rwandan children’s book initiative has also been established to support publishers to produce high quality, age appropriate-Kinyarwanda children’s books. It has been instrumental in distributing the royalties to rights holders and acted as a custodian of creative products. In order to promote home grown solutions to development challenges, the Rwandan Society of Authors (RSAU) was established in 2010. Rwanda Academy of Language and Culture has been established and through its activities, and played a significant role in preserving the integrity of Kinyarwanda Language against the effects of language globalization. The revision of the National Policy has been a co-operant factor to the development of the booming cultural entrepreneurship sector which continues to play a significant role in sustainable development. Measures have been established with respect to culture and creative expression.
The Convention has also been a catalyst to participatory policy making process among stakeholders from the public and private sectors and the civil society. The Ministry of Sports and Culture has revised her cultural policy and some of the provisions are aligned to the objectives of the Convention especially with regard to the role of culture in Rwanda’s sustainable development. The Convention has been used with other existing documents to strengthen and formulate sustainable development policies. Rwanda ratified the 2005 UNESCO Convention on 16th October 2012.
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