The Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda guarantees the right to freedoms of association (article 39) and freedom of assembly (article 40). These rights are further complemented by other laws such as, the law regulating national none-governmental organizations. Consistent with these constitutional rights, CSOs in Rwanda have always expressed the desire to collaborate and work as a collective. Indeed, there has been issue-based coalitions working on ad-hoc basis. However, this desire has been imperfected by limited skills set and lack of agility to create connections with likeminded organizations, activists, advocates and allies on a long term basis. In Rwanda, most CSOs are organized in collective umbrellas which are also organized under a single coalition – the Rwanda Civil Society Platform. However, research such as the Civil Society Sustainability Index (CSOSI 2020) revealed that CSOs continue to work individually and do not effectively make use of the formally existing frameworks. They have exhibited limited collaborative and networking efforts which affect their ability to share knowledge and experiences amongst themselves and impend their agility to actively engage in public policy discussions and advocacy.
