DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Well the world has woken up to the deadly Ebola outbreak sweeping parts of West Africa but whilst the international community scrambles to contain the virus within the three most affected countries, its impact is being felt right across the region and African leaders are meeting in London this week for an investment summit.  Amongst them is Rwanda’s Foreign Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo who joins me now and a very good morning to you, Minister and welcome to London.  Now I know Rwanda is a very long way from the affected areas but it still is on the same continent, what is the Rwandan perspective on the Ebola outbreak?

LOUISE MUSHIKIWABO:  Well a few things.  First, common understanding that this disease requires concerted, serious and global effort because as we have seen in the last several weeks, this disease has travelled from West Africa to the United States, to Spain so the understanding that we have to fight this together. Two, and I think it is really important for us on the continent, to make sure that we look at our health systems, that we look at our structures that we have put in place because God forbid another disease, it could be anything else if it is not Ebola, we just need to invest in preparedness.  So that’s the perspective Rwanda has taken and we have put together a preparedness plan that includes many sectors, that combines the Ministry of Health and local government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our civil aviation authorities and even now our army to make sure that we reach all the corners of the country to spread the right information, give tips.  This is an expensive disease to prevent so we cannot just expect the bureaucrats in our Ministries of Health to receive money from the international community and that’s the end of Ebola. 

DM: So you are being proactive on the basis that the best way of dealing with Ebola is not to have it occurring in your country in the first place. 

LOUISE MUSHIKIWABO:  That’s right but it’s also to support efforts where the disease is, contain it if possible from there and at the same time, from West Africa to where we are which is East Africa, make sure that we are prepared, that we are doing our best, that we are working together also as a region because of obviously the travel. 

DM: It’s interesting to hear what you are saying there, Minister, because I know the President of the World Bank has said the view is that if Ebola had occurred in Rwanda it would have been capable of dealing with it and for very different reasons as we all know, better than anyone here, Rwanda was devastated twenty years ago, it was a completely fractured nation and here we are, looking at West Africa for very different reasons about already delicate economies becoming devastated because of Ebola, what is that journey that Rwanda has taken in those two decades to end up in this relatively strong position?

LOUISE MUSHIKIWABO:  From a political and policy perspective, what we decided as a country twenty years ago was to invest in our people and that is from the political, to the economic, to the education, to the health and create a government system that gives our citizens a part to play in how they are governed.  So the biggest chunk of our budget, Rwanda’s budget, about 20% of our budget is in health and education.  We have put together a health coverage system that now goes around 94% and we have seen our productivity rise, we have also made sure that we do not go to our citizens with plans already made, we discuss with them, we get them involved and that cuts across the board and that is what has been extremely helpful.  We have trained more than 45,000 community health workers for different diseases, malaria, some of the tremendous progress with HIV AIDS, so this proactive approach, citizen involvement approach has been extremely helpful.

DM: So what would your message be as you rub shoulders and have the ear of all these world leaders from the international community about Ebola?  Saying look at Rwanda’s experience, you have to deal with this, you have to take it seriously, you may have been a bit late to understand what a threat this is, not just to West Africa but to Africa as a whole and indeed the balance, if it’s not too grand a thing to say, of the world.  Would you say get your act together, you are still not doing enough? 

LOUISE MUSHIKIWABO:  First I have to be modest about the progress in Rwanda.  We have done well in many areas, particularly in the health sector, but we still have a long way to go and no country is prepared for this kind of thing, just to give that perspective but there is world leaders and there is African leaders, so it has to be a combination of both.  The idea that the international community is going to pour in money and that’s the end of Ebola, it doesn’t work like that so I think working together is important.  Containment at the source is important, smarter screening is important because I travel a lot as you can imagine and how do we make sure we stop the spread by making sure we deal properly with potential incubators of the disease?  I’m not sure we are doing it right.  So it’s a combination of these world leaders so to speak and their contribution, it’s a systems and preparedness in terms of containment in the countries where there is Ebola and it is continued innovation in the way we deal with this disease. 

DM: Can I just ask you, it’s a bit of a sideline, it’s been pointed out to me and you are representative of it as well, Minister, that Rwanda has the highest proportion of women in senior governmental positions in the world.  Now some of that is flowing of course because of what happened during the genocide twenty years ago as we discussed but do you think that brings a different quality and focus to your politics?

LOUISE MUSHIKIWABO:  As a Rwandan and a woman and a leader in my country, I would say definitely, definitely.  It is not just what happened in 1994 with so many women left without husbands and so forth, it’s I think first and foremost a deliberate policy, it’s an effort that starts with a national conversation about women having not played their part in the past and righting what has been wrong for a long time, it’s also about as you say the visible contribution of women and I must say as well the attitude of men in Rwanda has been important, it’s not just because our constitution says something is going to be done.  So yes we do have now 64% of women in our parliament, close to 40% in the Cabinet and women I believe, I would have to get research to back me up but from our villages all the way to the decision makers, members of our society that are directly linked to all these good things – health, education, economic market, they are close to the environment, they are at the heart of what happens in terms of countries moving forward so I would venture to say that yes, women are a big part of some of the good results we have seen around the continent.

DM: Well Minister, it’s been fascinating talking to you today, thank you very much indeed for sparing the time to come in and join us on the show here today.  That is Rwanda’s Foreign Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo.  Thank you very much indeed once again.  

LOUISE MUSHIKIWABO:  Thank you.