Content
More than a quarter of Rwanda’s population lives in poverty. At the same time, the risk of poverty is rising due to the impacts of climate change, including an increase in heavy rainfall and droughts. This is jeopardising food and nutrition security in the country. As a result of traditional gender roles, women are more often at risk of slipping into extreme poverty.
An inclusive and adaptive social protection system is needed to safeguard development in the country. Rwanda began to establish and develop such a system in 2005. A goal of the Social Protection Sector Strategic Plan 2024–2029 is to expand the social protection system – including in response to climate risks – and to improve implementation.
To date, the financing and expertise required to implement the plan has not been sufficient. As a result, the system is unable to offer the population adequate coverage or provide protection from crises caused by climate change, in particular.
Objective
The Rwandan Government is successfully implementing its social protection system. It is increasingly reaching more eligible people, including in the wake of crises.
Approach
The project operates in three areas of action:
1. It advises partners on the digital social registry for managing social protection. The registry provides support with registering people, checking eligibility and inclusion in specific programmes, processing complaints, and identifying people who are to receive special forms of assistance.
2. The project is developing the capacities of local administrations with its training formats and content, enabling them to implement a higher quality of social protection and consider the specific needs of vulnerable groups.
3. In addition, the project provides advice on operationalising the shock-responsive cash transfer programme offering financial support to households affected by crises – such as floods. It also promotes the coordination of this programme with disaster response services.