About YouthConnekt Champions & CYRWA

Celebrating Young Rwandan Achievers (CYRWA) awards was established in 2007, by Her Excellency First Lady Mrs Jeannette Kagame, to honour outstanding young Rwandans who strive towards the highest levels of personal and professional accomplishments, through Imbuto Foundation's Youth Empowerment and Mentorship Programme (YEMP).

Since 2015, the Ministry of Youth and Culture joined efforts with Imbuto Foundation to award individuals, institutions, organisations and enterprises that actively supported the empowerment of Rwanda’s youthful generation. This has been done at Imbuto Foundation through CYRWA, and through the Ministry of Youth and culture, through the YouthConnekt Champions (YCC).The award ceremony is held every two years and to-date, 48 individuals, organisations and enterprises have been awarded under YouthConnekt Champions and CYRWA.This year, YouthConnekt Champions and CYRWA celebrates the 7th edition of the awards.

Those awarded have forged paths of leadership for all Rwandan youth to follow.

CYRWA 2021 Awardees Highlights

Nomination Criteria

Nomination Criteria: For Individuals (Young Rwandan Achievers)

  • Must be an individual, a man or woman aged between 18-35 years,
  • Must be of Rwandan nationality, living in Rwanda or abroad;
  • Must demonstrate vision, excellence, creativity, initiative, integrity and values in his/her field or profession;
  • Must show evidence of having provided service to improve the quality of life of youth in the community;
  • Must manifest devotion toward the empowerment of youth;
  • Must inspire and motivate other youth, enterprises, organizations to reach their self-reliance;
  • Must show how he/she has overcome personal or societal barriers to achieve his/her goals
  • Must manifest devotion toward the empowerment of youth;
  • Must consistently display leadership qualities;
  • Must inspire and motivate other youth, enterprises, organizations to reach their self-reliance;

Nomination Criteria: For Organizations/Enterprises

  • Must be registered/operating in Rwanda and/or abroad
  • Must have a policy or mission which specifically and intentionally targets the youth
  • Must be willing to provide additional requests for verification if selected as a pre-finalist;
  • Must show evidence of having provided service to improve the quality of life of youth in the community;
  • Must inspire and motivate other Enterprises, Institutions, youth Individuals to reach their Self- reliance;
  • Must manifest devotion toward the empowerment of youth.

Partners