One of the tools developed to support the Poverty-Environment Initiative (PEI) objective of integrating the environment into national policy and planning processes to implement the EDPRS in Rwanda was the "Poverty and Environment Indicators and a Strategy for monitoring them within the framework of the "Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS)". The development of Poverty-Environment indicators is one of the milestones in the EDPRS formulation roadmap and a key activity area of the global PEI.
This report details how the tool facilitated the process of identifying and subsequently integrating environmental indicators in the log frames that will play a crucial role in the implementation of the EDPRS.
Poverty-environment indicators are about establishing and monitoring the links between poverty and the environment. In Rwanda, the first specific initiative to focus on poverty and environment links was the UNDP-supported pilot project poverty-environment mapping in 2003.
Indicators are considered useful in simplifying, clarifying, and monitoring the complex links between poverty and the environment. The Rwandan experience has demonstrated that Poverty-Environment issues cut across all seven Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) and their specific targets. Therefore, their inclusion in the monitoring and evaluation system for the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) and other national development strategies and plans will contribute to a more effective focus toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals.