IPAR-Rwanda was commissioned by the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda to conduct independent evaluation of the 7YGP 2010-2017 which was built on three major pillars, namely: Good Governance and Justice; Economic Development; and Social Welfare. The evaluation exercise was completed and the final report was submitted to the Office of the Prime Minister in August 2017.

IPAR-Rwanda in collaboration with Palladium Ikiraro cy’Iterambere implemented a research project on “Information flows in decision making” from the citizens to the local authorities and vice versa. The project used Girinka and Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP) as a case studies. The objective of the research project was to assess channels of communication for effective citizen participation in the planning, budgeting, design, monitoring and evaluation, feed-back and reform of policy and service delivery in relation to Girinka and Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme. The study built on the evidence from a previous study on citizen participation in decision making which suggested that some information shared by the citizens does not reach the decision makers and/or decision makers do not provide feedback on the messages they receive from the citizens.

IPAR was commissioned by the Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning(MINECOFIN) to evaluate the Vision 2020 and carry out mid-term assessment of the NST1.

IPAR-Rwanda was commissioned by the office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda to conduct an independent evaluation of the Annual Rwandan Central and Local Government Performance Contracts also known as the Imihigo since 2013. This has enabled IPAR-Rwanda to evaluate Imihigo for the fiscal years 2013/2014; 2014/2015; 2015/2016 and the recently 2016/2017 and 2017/2018.

In 2019, IPAR-Rwanda was honored to collaborate with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning(MINECOFIN) to compile the reports on Public Expenditure covering Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition at the local government level.  The surveys sought to track the flow of public funds from the central government to the local administrative entities in the three areas.

IPAR-Rwanda in collaboration with SJ in 2019 provided socio-economic data and analysis which informed the development of the socio-economic projections for the update of the Kigali City master plan (Kigali Master Plan 2050).  The objective of the research was to generate projections of population growth, employment creation and economic growth projections of different economic activities in Kigali. Areas covered include Social-Economic development, Housing development and Commercial Real Estate development. The projections will inform the land use planning for the City of Kigali over the next 30 years (2050).

In 2019, IPAR-Rwanda in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Boston(UMass) completed a research project on “Strengthening Rwandan Administrative Justice (SRAJ).”  To understand how administrative justice is administered in Rwanda and the perceptions of the people, researchers studied three areas, which include; Land expropriation, Public and Private Labor and Public Procurement.

IPAR-Rwanda in collaboration with the International Budget Partnership (IBP) implemented a research project on “Rwanda Open Budget Survey 2018” which aimed at assessing availability of eight documents--Pre-Budget Statement, Executive’s Budget Proposal, Enacted Budget, Citizens Budget, In-Year Reports,  Mid-Year Review,   and Audit Report Year-End Report on Rwanda’s national budget to the public via the website of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) which is responsible for the national budget. The survey which covers over 100 countries informs the central governments on their budget transparency.

In 2019, IPAR-Rwanda in collaboration with SJ conducted economic and demographic study to inform optimum and adequate urban planning in the six secondary cities in Rwanda. The work involved conducting socio-economic analysis, positioning and projections for the Master Plan of each of the secondary cities namely Musanze, Muhanga, Rubavu, Nyagatare, Rusizi and Huye. The study aimed at identifying key social and economic issues for each city, assess long term economic and demographic growth expected in each city, population growth projections over a period of 30 to 50 years and assess broad land requirements for each of the cities.

In 2019, IPAR-Rwanda conducted a research project on “Information flows in decision making” from the citizens to the local authorities and vice versa. The project takes Girinka and Vision2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP) as case studies. The objective of the research is to assess channels of communication for effective citizen participation in the planning, budgeting, design, monitoring and evaluation, feed-back and reform of policy and service delivery in relation to Girinka and Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme. This study builds on the evidence from a previous study on citizen participation in decision making which suggested that some information shared by the citizens does not necessarily reach the decision makers and/or decision makers do not provide feedback on the messages they receive from the citizens.

In 2017, IPAR-Rwanda in collaboration with the African Centre for Global Health and Social Transformation (ACHEST) undertook a scoping study of the various national-level institutional arrangements for the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) implementation and monitoring in Rwanda.  Particular attention was paid on arrangement for implementation of SDG3 in the case of Rwanda.

IPAR-Rwanda in partnership with the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN) at Overseas Development Institute (ODI) carried out a study on “Understanding and supporting sustained pathways out of extreme poverty and deprivation”, The aim of this project is to increase understanding of the factors associated with sustained escapes from poverty, how policies and programmes can support these escapes and the political and institutional pre-conditions under which these policies can successfully be initiated.

IPAR-IPAR-Rwanda with support from the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) conducted a study which focused on the theme “Building Capacity in Science, Technology and Innovation for Africa’s Transformation.”  The Objectives of this study included:  Examine the Science Technology and Innovation (STI) landscape and uptake by Countries in Africa; Examine the issues, challenges, opportunities and possibilities facing African countries, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Continental bodies as well as non-state actors in creating sustainable STI platforms for the continent’s economic, political and social transformation; Define the key capacity imperatives around STI development and the appropriate roles for Governments, RECs, Continental bodies and non-state actors; and Serve as a knowledge product targeting Africa’s continental bodies, RECs, policy makers, private sector, civil society, development partners, universities, and research institutes/ think tanks around the capacity dimension that require attention.

This study was commissioned by OXFAM to inform its Rwanda Country Programme. The study analyzed the gender differences in Rwanda and explored why these differences exist and what they mean for sustainable livelihoods and participatory governance. The report includes an analysis of the legal and policy framework for gender equality and the empowerment of women, an analysis of secondary data and insights from qualitative research with key informants and women and men in Rwanda.

IPAR-Rwanda, in partnership with the Michigan State University, are undertaking the Feed for the Future Africa Great Lakes Coffee Support program, a three year USAID funded project that aims to implement an integrative program of collaborative research, policy engagement and producer capacity building in the Great Lakes Region of Africa to control potato taste defect (PTD) and improve coffee productivity. IPAR-Rwanda will implement the project activities focused on coffee farmers, notably their cost of production and the determinants of farmer incentives to invest in their coffee plantations.

IPAR has been awarded a grant by the International Development Research Center(IDRC) to conduct this research project analyzing the impact of Covid-19 on Rwanda’s economy ranging from Businesses to households.

A research project on “Building resilience in Rwanda through business collaboration” was initiated and funded by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and implemented together with Adelphi. The project was completed and three papers were produced.

Research was conducted on aid management and fiscal policy for inclusive growth and lessons from Rwanda which was commissioned by the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET). The research investigated how Rwanda managed and coordinated development assistance while at the same time mobilizing domestic resources.

Research reviewing policies relevant to biodiversity informatics in Sub- Saharan Africa was conducted with financial support from JRS Foundation. By describing the current policy framework relating to biodiversity informatics, the project looked at the best practices of promoting the use and sharing of biodiversity information. The project was successfully completed with two peer-reviewed journal articles published and three more articles that are still under review.

A study was conducted on ‘Consistency Analysis of Existing policies, plans and programs for development of catchment plans’ on behalf of SNV-Rwanda. The objectives of the study were to: 1) Investigate the policy, plans, programs and legislation frameworks in terms of their relevance to IWRM; 2) Examine the implications of these policy instruments for catchment planning and management. A final report was produced and findings were presented in a workshop organized by the Rwanda Natural Resources Authority (RNRA).

A background study on “Strengthening the Impact of Employment of Sector Policies: A joint Initiative of MIFOTRA, ILO and European Union” was commissioned by the International Labour Organization (ILO). The study focused on the construction and infrastructure sectors. A final report was produced and findings were presented in a workshop.

A mid-term phase evaluation of Rwanda’s National Climate Change and Environment Fund, (FONERWA) was conducted. The purpose was to deliberately uncover the contextual conditions affecting the success of FONERWA-supported projects by exploring how distributional benefits vary and the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of what enables projects to start delivering benefits. The three project case studies included: integrated land, water resources and clean energy management toward poverty reduction project in Musanze District, to support the integration of Greening district development plans and the Gaseke Hydro power project. The study was carried out in three districts: Gasabo, Gakenke and Musanze.

The 3rd year evaluation of the Department for International Development’s (ODI) Results Based Aid support to the education sector in Rwanda led by Upper Quartile one UK was done. The purpose of the evaluation was to determine whether the additional incentive of RBA impacted on the completion at key stages of education and on additional teachers becoming competent in the use of English as the medium of instruction.

An external context analysis project with Voluntary Service Overseas Rwanda (VSOR) was conducted to assess the institutional Policy and operational situation, bottlenecks and identify practical solutions and recommendations towards the achievement of the Vision 2020 and the EDPRS II as well as maximize the impact of VSO in Rwanda. A final report was produced and shared with VSO Rwanda.

The project was conducted through joint collaboration between the City of Kigali and the IPAR-Rwanda. The purpose of the study was to provide a deep understanding of the incidence and persistence of street-connected children and young people, street trading, begging, on-street prostitution and delinquency (collectively referred as ‘street work’) on the streets of the City of Kigali and how to meet the welfare needs of those that engage 17 in these activities. It also discussed what the literature suggests are ways of making alternative and sustainable livelihood options available to those working on the street.