Suicide Hotlines and Crisis Lines in Rwanda

A helpline is a place to talk to someone when you are struggling, before or instead of a crisis. In Rwanda, the lines on this page are answered by health staff, counsellors or investigators, depending on the service, and we say beside each one which it is. If you are not in Rwanda, the worldwide list is organised by country.

What you share is kept private in almost all cases; if a counsellor believes a life is in immediate danger, they may arrange urgent help. What each service costs is set out beside it below. Most of the short codes on this page are published as toll free by the bodies that run them, and where a cost is not published we say so.

TherapyRoute is a directory. We do not answer calls or messages ourselves, so please use the numbers below rather than contacting us if you need someone now.

CRISIS LINES, SUICIDE HOTLINES, AND HELPLINES IN RWANDA

Each number below was checked in August 2026 at the operating organisation's own website, or at a Government of Rwanda page that publishes the service.

Notice an error or a missing service? Please tell us so we can correct it.

Emergency numbers, and what each one is for

Rwanda Biomedical Centre call centre, 114

AVEGA Agahozo counselling line, 7494

Violence reporting lines and the Isange One Stop Centres

Lines for children, 116 and 711

Ndera Neuropsychiatric Teaching Hospital

While you are waiting to be answered

If you are worried about someone else

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Emergency numbers, and what each one is for

The Government of Rwanda publishes its emergency numbers on a single page, headed "Emergency Numbers / Contact local emergency services for assistance." The ones that matter most here are below.

Emergency: 112

Ambulance: 912

Health services: 114

The government page labels 114 "Health services", not mental health, and no three-digit mental health line appears on it. The same page lists 116 as the "Child Help Line" and 3512 for "Gender Based Violence"; both are covered in their own sections below. The page publishes no hours and no cost for any of these numbers, and it publishes no fire brigade number.

Rwanda Biomedical Centre call centre, 114

The Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) is Rwanda's national health implementation agency, and it runs the Mental Health Division that oversees mental health services across the public health system. 114 is its call centre, published on RBC's own contact page as "Call Center (Toll free): 114". It is a general health line rather than a dedicated mental health crisis line.

It is, however, where the profession itself points. The Rwanda Psychological Society's own guidance reads: "In a mental health crisis, seek immediate assistance by contacting the Rwanda Biomedical Center's Crisis Hotline: 114 or reach out to hospitals." The society also states plainly: "You can call the Free Hotline number of the Rwanda Biomedical Center on 114."

Tel: 114

Hours: not published.

Cost: toll free, in RBC's own published wording quoted above.

AVEGA Agahozo counselling line, 7494

AVEGA Agahozo (Association des Veuves du Génocide Agahozo) is a Rwandan genocide widows' association. Its Mental Health Subprogram provides counselling for trauma, PTSD and depression, and it is the only Rwandan line we found that its own organisation describes as counselling rather than reporting or general health.

In its own words, the programme "provides individual and group counseling through district psychotherapists and operates telephone based counselling through a toll-free call center (7494) offering immediate support". The same page states: "These services are available to both genocide survivors and the broader population." So although the organisation's roots are in survivor support, you do not need to be a survivor to call.

Tel: 7494

Hours: not published.

Cost: toll free, in AVEGA's own published wording quoted above.

Violence reporting lines and the Isange One Stop Centres

These are reporting and referral lines, not counselling lines. They are answered by government bodies, and calling one may connect you with an investigator. They are on this page because they are a route into the Isange One Stop Centres, where, in the words of the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, "victims receive a holistic package of services, including access to justice, psychosocial support, healthcare, safe shelter when required, and assistance with community reintegration". Rwanda operates 48 of these centres.

Tel: 3512, the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) line for gender-based and domestic violence. RIB publishes it under the heading "MWADUHAMAGARA KU MIRONGO ITISHYURWA / CONTACT US ON TOLL FREE NUMBERS", so it is toll free.

Tel: 3029, published by RIB in the same toll-free block with the label "Isange One Stop Centre".

Tel: 9059, the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF) line, published on the ministry's contact page as "9059 (toll free)". The ministry lists it among the hotlines through which victims or witnesses of violence can reach services.

Hours: not published for any of these lines.

Lines for children, 116 and 711

Tel: 116

The Rwanda Investigation Bureau publishes 116 in its toll-free block with the label "Ihohoterwa rikorerwa abana/Reporting child abuse". The Government of Rwanda emergency page prints the same number as the "Child Help Line". It is a reporting line, answered by the national investigation bureau.

Tel: 711

The National Child Development Agency (NCDA), the government agency for child development and protection, publishes 711 on its own site with the label "Hotline" and no further description. MIGEPROF lists it among the toll-free hotlines through which victims or witnesses of violence can access services; the NCDA page itself does not publish a cost.

Hours: not published for either line.

Ndera Neuropsychiatric Teaching Hospital

Ndera Neuropsychiatric Teaching Hospital in Gasabo, Kigali, is Rwanda's national referral neuropsychiatric teaching hospital, with branches at CARAES Butare and the Icyizere Psychotherapeutic Center. This is a hospital, not a helpline: the numbers below reach its switchboard and emergency contact.

The hospital's website prints two contact numbers on the same page, and they differ in the last three digits. We give both as printed rather than choosing between them.

Tel: +250781447729 / 2575, printed in the site header under "EMERGENCY For emergency call".

Tel: +250 781 447 928, printed in the site footer under "Contact Us".

Hours: not published.

Cost: not published.

While you are waiting to be answered

No Rwandan line on this page publishes its hours, and a line that is open can still be busy. If you are waiting, try to stay with someone you trust, or ask someone to sit with you until the call connects.

If you have anything near you that you could use to harm yourself, put it somewhere harder to reach, or ask someone else to hold it for you. Distance and time both help.

If waiting is not possible, dial 112 or 912, or go to a hospital emergency department. You do not need an appointment and you do not need to explain yourself well.

If you are worried about someone else

Ask them directly. Asking someone whether they are thinking of suicide does not put the idea there, and it often comes as a relief to be asked plainly.

Listen more than you advise. You do not need the right words, and you are not expected to fix anything.

If they are willing, offer to sit with them while they call one of the numbers above, or to make the call together. If they are in immediate danger, treat it as you would any medical emergency.

Supporting someone through this is heavy, and it is reasonable to want support of your own. The same lines are open to you.

For services in other countries, see the list of helplines and suicide hotlines worldwide.

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