Our history

It all started back in 2015 while Jean Claude Masengesho was in a six months training in Vienna, Austria in a University of veterinary medicine, started interacting with people involved in animal welfare and through participating in many conferences he started growing his interests in animal welfare.

In 2017, Jean Claude joined together with old campus friends to started the ideation phase on founding a non-profit organization that would focus on animal welfare. Finally in 2020, Jean Claude, Ruth, Senzira, Bosco, Innocent, Anne, Justin, Jeanne, Mbaga founded Rwanda Animal Welfare Organization (RAWO), as non-profit organization registered with the Rwanda Governance Board – RGB; No. 811/RGB/NGO/OC/11/2020 and based in Musanze district and Jean Claude became the Executive Director.

RAWO focuses on the following areas:

• Education – We use education and communication to engage the local community in the Five Freedoms (Five Needs) of animals.
• Partnership – We work with key stakeholders to ensure that animal welfare is always considered in local, regional and national decision-making.
• Dog population management – We work towards ensuring the management of dog populations humanely.
• Environmental conservation – We work for the attainment of sustainable development through improved environmental conservation and public health.
• Research – We investigate the implications of technology and prompt research on achieving better wellbeing of humans and animals.