ABSTRACT
Rwanda demonstrated a strong commitment to building social cohesion through national policy and program development as post-genocide humanitarian assistance gave way to sustainable development. Over the past two decades, international development partners, working alongside local and national nongovernment organisations (NGOs), have played a key role in rebuilding the country. Social work emerged as part of this humanitarian relief program in the mid-1990s. Since then, it has positioned itself within the developing social welfare institutions addressing social problems, including child welfare, poverty, gender issues, and the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Key to social work’s development has been the partnerships between North American universities in the United States and Canada and three major higher education institutions in Rwanda offering social work education, including the University of Rwanda (formerly the National University of Rwanda (NUR)), Catholic University of Rwanda (CUR), and Byumba Polytechnic Institute.
