Sunday Kalisa, Director of Professional Development Services, Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Rwanda (ICPAR)
The IFR4NPO Country Champion in Rwanda, Sunday Kalisa, recently hosted a meeting for those with an interest in non-profit financial reporting in the country. We asked him to share his reflections.
I was encouraged by the excitement of some stakeholders and it was inspiring to see how this will be an important milestone. Participants mentioned that it would be very helpful to have a harmonised reporting framework that both donors and governments recognise as it would improve comparability, enhance accountability and support in fundraising.
We realised it will be essential to engage the Rwanda Civil Society Platform (RCSP); Rwanda Governance Board (RGB); and Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) in particular, so that they can recognize the Guidance. In terms of challenges, participants highlighted lack of capacity for smaller or local NGOs to implement the Guidance, seeing as this will have some financial implications, and also general resistance to change.
Stakeholders in Rwanda should be prepared to participate in the consultation process come January 2021, as their opinions and perspectives matter.
I learned that as more stakeholders get engaged to participate in something, the easier it becomes to buy-in into it!
We are so grateful to Sunday Kalisa and all our Country Champions for their wonderful voluntary service in reaching out to stakeholders all over the world! You can find details of the meeting, including a video recording here.
