Rwanda's recent success has depended, first, on sustained political and economic commitments from the highest levels of government, and, second, on a strategic vision that has allowed the nation to transform these commitments into policies and programmes that have had a positive impact on peoples' lives. We have also received generous support from international donors. When the genocide ended in 1994, the government initially focused on rebuilding the nation's educational systems from top to bottom. Over the past decade, student enrolment in primary education has doubled from 940,000 to 2 million, enrolment in secondary education has increased sevenfold from 50,000 to 350,000, and enrolment in higher education has increased more than tenfold from 3,000 to 40,000. The goal is to create a more educated and skilled labour force. We have also sought to implement simple, appropriate technologies, especially those that can provide immediate benefits to Rwanda's most impoverished citizens. For example, we have developed a programme to distribute biogas stoves that use human waste and generate heat far more efficiently than wood stoves. More than 50% of all households in Rwanda now have these stoves, and plans call for all households to have them by 2012. This might sound like a small measure, especially when compared to the enormous challenges we face. Yet improved stoves often have a dramatic impact on the lives of people, particularly those living in rural areas. Children no longer spend long hours gathering wood and, as a result, spend more time in school. In addition, the measure reduces stress on the nation's forests and therefore helps to improve the environment. The government has also provided opportunities for farmers to adopt land-management practices such as terraced farming, and has encouraged them to work their land cooperatively to increase their prospects for producing crops for market. In the past, farm families tilled plots of land as small as one-quarter hectare and grew small amounts of a wide variety of crops, largely for their own consumption. Today, many farmers, as members of farm cooperatives, grow maize and produce milk for sale. Their efforts are aided by government agencies that provide training and carry out demonstrations free of charge. This is science-based development at its best. Simply put, we are turning to science to help improve peoples' lives.