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Expanding Point-of-Use Water Treatment in Rwanda Results and Lessons Learned

Rwanda, a small country with a population of more than 10 million, 1 is located in central East Africa. Extreme levels of poverty, low education and poor health resulted in a 2009 UNDP Human Development Report ranking of 167 out of 182 countries. Over 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas and 90 percent engages in agriculture, primarily subsistence farming.2 Sixty percent of the population still lives below the poverty line, and close to half of all children under age five suffer from chronic malnutrition. 3

1 Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. 2010. Republic of Rwanda. http://www.minecofin.gov.rw/. (accessed June 21, 2010).

2 Statistiques-Mondiales. 2010. Republique du Rwanda. http://www.statistiques-mondiales.com/rwanda.htm. (accessed June 21, 2010).

3 UNICEF. 2010. Rwanda. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/rwanda_statistics.html. (accessed June 21, 2010).