Kigali — As part of efforts to strengthen civil society in the country, the Public Sector Capacity Building Secretariat (PSCBS), has kicked off a two-week training that targets 60 elected civil society representatives from all districts.

The training is under the $0.4m project for Civil Society Institutional Support and Capacity Building that is being funded by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF).

Opening the workshop in Remera, PSCBS Executive Secretary Charles Karake, underscored the importance of civil society to the national development agenda.

"The recently conducted national skills audit revealed that the civil society badly needs capacity in project management, advocacy, negotiating skills and packaging of projects so as to play a meaningful role in the country's development.

"You are closest to the people at the grassroots, so use such training opportunities to sharpen your analytical and advocacy skills," Karake told the participants.

The president of the Civil Society Platform, Eugene Rwibasira, welcomed the initiative saying it would build capacity within civil society organisations.