M. Providence Umuziga, RMHN, MSN, Ph.D. (c), is a lecturer in the Department of Mental Health/ School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Rwanda. She is involved in research and community outreach activities promoting general health and mental health. In collaboration with Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC), Maternal Community Health Division, she was involved in developing competence-based curriculum and training manuals for community health workers (CHWs).
Providence led the team that developed Risk Communication and Community Engagement for Community health workers. In collaboration with the World Bank Group and RBC/MCCH; Providence worked as a consultant to design a polyvalent CHW model currently being initiated in Rwanda. Providence also was invited to teaching seminaries for the master’s Programme “International Health”; Community-Oriented Primary Care module in May 2022 at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Institute for Tropical Medicine, and International Health. She coordinated a Maternal Mental Health component within Training Support Access Model (TSAM) project in Rwanda for Maternal Newborn and Child Health funded by Canada Global Affairs, in collaboration with the University of Rwanda, and RBC.
Providence is currently leading a project funded by Johnson and Johnson entitled “Clinical mentorship for improving quality of mental health services delivery and enhancing inter-professional collaboration”. Providence is the Chairperson of the National Council of Nurses and Midwives (NCNM) in Rwanda, and Vice-President of the Rwandan Society of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses (RSPN). She is the Chairperson of the Leadership and Management faculty within East Central and Southern Africa College of Nursing and Midwifery (ECSACONM), and Deputy Secretary General of the Rwandan Organization Against Epilepsy (ORCE). She is a Sigma Teuta Tau International Organization of Nursing and the Rwanda Nurses and Midwives Union member. Her most recent publications focused on perinatal depression and reproductive health.