Kigali, October 9, 2019.On Monday evening, October 7, 2019, the members of the Board of Directors, Management and Staff of the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research(IPAR-Rwanda) convened at Lemigo Hotel to bid farewell to the outgoing Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Mr. Wellars Gasamagera who was recently appointed Rwanda’s Ambassador to Angola.

Mr. Gasamagera had been serving as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors for five years since 2015. Under his leadership, IPAR-Rwanda soared to new heights. Notable among the numerous achievements made, include IPAR’s role in the evaluation of both central and local government performance contracts (locally known as Imihigo), evaluation of Seven Year Government Programme (7YGP 2010-2017) and organizing five Annual Research Conferences on different themes aimed at disseminating and discussing new research findings with the policy-makers and other key stakeholders such as the development partners, civil society and the private sector.

IPAR-Rwanda also created IPAR Consult Ltd, a consulting firm that aims at delivering customized, expert-led research and consulting services to the Government, Private Sector, Development Partners and the Civil Society. The institute also implemented over 50 research projects in its quest to improving policy and impacting change by providing research-based evidence to the policy-makers and other key stakeholders in nation building.

Mr. Gasamagera attributes the achievements to the pro-active and supportive members of the Board of Directors, Management and staff of the institute.

In his own words, he said : “Despite a few challenges which would be handled immediately, IPAR-Rwanda has remained focused on improving research and policy analysis in Rwanda. Challenges can come but IPAR has built a strong foundation which will keep it afloat for a long time."

IPAR’s Executive Director, Ms. Eugenia Kayitesi, on behalf of the management and staff, thanked the outgoing Chairperson and the entire Board for the immense support and understanding during the past five years which were characterized by high performance, networking and dialoguing. Ms. Kayitesi congratulated the outgoing Chairperson for the appointment and wished him well in his new responsibilities.

IPAR-Rwanda is the leading independent, not-for-profit research and policy analysis Think Tank in Rwanda, with a reputation for conducting high quality research and policy analysis and promotion of a culture of debate and dialogue on policy issues.

The institute was created in May 2008 with initial start-up support from the Government of Rwanda, technical and operational support from the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and Canada’s International Development Research Center (IDRC).