From an activity by Red Rocks Rwanda, supported with one of our small grants for African heritage projets Copyright: Red Rocks Rwanda

HERITΛGE is proud to announce the launch of Heritage Initiatives Rwanda CBC (HIRWA), a new member of the HERITΛGE extended ecosystem and network in Rwanda.

In line with HERITΛGE’s founding principles, HIRWA is locally managed by a board, ensuring that decisions, priorities, and programmes are shaped by those closest to the country’s heritage and communities. The HIRWA board member are: Gregory Bakunzi, Alice Kamasoni, Cedrick Shema Kabagambe, and Eirini Oikonomidi.

HIRWA aspires to see Rwanda’s cultural heritage safeguarded, celebrated, and sustainably activated as a living source of knowledge, community identity, creativity, resilience, and inclusive economic development for present and future generations. The initiative brings together community engagement, research, education, training, and sustainable development approaches to support the protection and valorisation of heritage across the country. It will also advocate for heritage at local, national, and international levels, while providing policy advice and technical expertise to governments, intergovernmental organisations, and international partners.

The launch builds on HERITΛGE’s long-standing engagement across sub-Saharan Africa. Between 2023 and 2025, HERITΛGE delivered 30 workshops to 771 participants, signed 20 Memoranda of Understanding, and gathered more than 1,100 responses to its Mapping Capacity in Heritage Management survey across the continent. During the same period, HERITΛGE has been working in Africa since 2018. The organization has provided small grants to more than 70 heritage projects across the continent, having received over 2,600 applications for this support, reflecting both the scale of need and the growing demand for heritage capacity-building initiatives and funding across the region.

Heritage Initiatives Rwanda will operate as an independent, locally rooted organisation within the HERITΛGE network, drawing on more than a decade of capacity-building expertise across 38+ countries. As part of this wider ecosystem, some of its activities may also be presented under the Heritage Management Organization network identity.

“We believe heritage is strongest when communities themselves lead its stewardship and future direction. The establishment of Heritage Initiatives Rwanda reflects a shared commitment to locally rooted heritage management, community engagement, and sustainable development,” Eirini Oikonomidi, Project manager, Rwandan projects, noted on behalf of the organization.