Exiting Poverty in Rwanda (Social Protection)

Swedens support for Rwandas social protection sector is being channelled through the Exiting Poverty Rwanda (EPR) programme, co-financed with the UKs Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). The EPR programme operates on multiple fronts, aiming to deliver immediate impacts to vulnerable households while also strengthening Rwandas national social protection system. It combines direct cash transfers with technical assistance to bolster policy development and institutional capacity. According to recent assessments, the programme is largely on track to meet its overarching goals of poverty reduction and system-building. It is performing strongly across all key indicators and has been praised for its cost-effectiveness 95% of disbursed funds reach beneficiaries directly in the form of cash transfers. These payments have been shown to significantly reduce poverty and improve access to essential services. Key achievements Strategic planning for the social protection sector One of the programmes major milestones was its contribution to the development of Rwandas second Social Protection Sector Strategic Plan. The programmes technical assistance facility played a central role in drafting the plan, which aligns with Rwandas national development plans (Rwanda's Vision 2050 and the National Strategy for Transformation). The strategic plan was finalised and approved in 2024, and includes a robust monitoring framework and sets clear targets for policy innovation. Nationwide roll-out of pension scheme Another significant achievement was the national roll-out of the so called Old Age Grant, co-funded by the Rwandan government. The grant is a pension directed to the most vulnerable Rwandan's over 65 years of age. Although delays in the implementation of a new social registry system affected the initial timeline, a temporary solution allowed the programme to proceed using interim targeting methods. As a result, by August 2024, the grant had reached over 87,000 elderly individuals across the country. Training boost local government staff The programme has also invested in building the skills of local government staff. Over 14,000 Parasocial Workers have been trained under a new national framework to deliver support services more effectively. These workers have played a key role in helping more than 100,000 households access safety nets and begin their journey out of poverty. Social protection reaches Rwandas most vulnerable New evidence shows that components of the social protection programme, like expanded public works and the expansion of direct support, have ensured appropriate social protection for vulnerable groups, including female heads of household with young children and caregivers of people with severe disabilities. These are financially backed by the EPR.

Sweden and UK-backed programme supports Rwandas social protection efforts Swedens support for Rwandas social protection sector is being channelled through the Exiting Poverty Rwanda (EPR) programme, a joint initiative co-financed with the UKs Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). The programme will provide funding and expert support to help expand Rwandas national social protection scheme, the Vision Umurenge Programme (VUP). The overall impact the EPR programme seeks to achieve is the eradication of extreme poverty and poverty reduction in Rwanda. To contribute towards this, the outcome of EPR is to build an effective and sustainable social protection system, which ensures basic income security and access to essential services, promotes sustainable graduation (exit) from poverty, and enhances resilience of vulnerable, men, women and children. This outcome can be delivered if poor and vulnerable people are effectively supported through the national social protection programme to meet their basic needs, to better withstand shocks and crises, and to establish sustainable livelihoods. This does however require strengthened capacity within the social protection system to sustainably implement more effective programmes and deliver policy innovation and reform, including through the support of technical assistance and policy engagement. Expected outcomes There are three expected outcomes of the programme: 1. Improved access to more effective social protection for vulnerable groups, including in response to shocks through: - Cash Transfers targets the most vulnerable: (i) the scale up of Nutrition Sensitive Direct Support (NSDS) for improved nutrition outcomes for the poorest. NSDS targets pregnant women and children under 2, the program will enable 100% of those eligible to be reached nationally or approximately 160,000 additional households. This instrument includes conditions on recipients to access health care support during/after pregnancy and receive additional information on nutrition and sanitation; (ii) expanded Direct Support for people with disabilities - adding a new category of people caring for PwD and around 40,000 households. - Shock-responsive social protection: responding to national data on the scale of destruction to assets and savings as a result of climate-related shocks, the program will support the development of a system that is able to respond and adapt to households needs after a climate-related shock in order to protect livelihood gains from being eroded. - Climate-sensitive and Expanded Public Works : (i) modest expansion of Expanded Public Works focused on labor-constrained households (mainly women with caring responsibilities), covering up to 36,000 additional households; (ii) support to around 30,000 households through climate-sensitive public works that will focus on the poorest regions most affected by climate and other shocks. 2. Strengthened linkages between social protection and complementary services that enable sustainable graduation from extreme poverty through: - Multi-Sectoral Graduation Package: building on an initial pilot on interventions aimed at supporting people to graduate, that is or exit from poverty, this program will support future pilots that explore the best options required to lift different groups of the population out of poverty, including investments and skills development, providing livelihood support, access to markets, strengthened services (education and health), increased job opportunities to approximately 12,500 households with the potential to graduate from extreme poverty. 3. The institutional capacity for evidence-based planning and social protection service delivery enhanced by: - Technical assistance to support the implementation of Government of Rwandas new social protection policy and strategy. - Implementation support for critical staff at central and district level to support social protection implementation. - Independent monitoring, evaluation, and analytical work: to understand the impact of social protection for improved policy design, programming and delivery. Key results to be delivered by 2026 include: - 65,000 households (approximately 250,000 people) lifted out of extreme poverty by the last year of the program. - Lives of at least 4,800 children saved due to improved nutrition. - Improved targeting of People with Disabilities, increased level of climate-sensitive and shock responsive financing.