Assessment of the Extent of People’s Participation in Socio-Economic Projects for Community Development in Rwanda. Rubavu District

The study attempted to assess the extent of people’ participation in socio-economic projects for community development in Rubavu district, Rwanda. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey designusing both quantitative and qualitative research approaches on 302 respondents. It was revealed that, the extent to which people participate in socio-economic projects is still at the low level of participation because many projects implemented in different sectors are conceived by planners at the district level, thus local people are not participating actively in their own development and do not know the role they should play in these different activities. The study recommended that the enhancement of the level of people’s participation in socio-economic projects for their development is crucial by involving people in the whole process of socio-economic projects since the identification of needs, formulation of projects up to their closure instead of leaving them in the hands of planners, administrators and community elites at the district level. This would be possible by putting more emphasis on Empowered people and Empowered Participatory Governance.