Third Social Protection System Support (SPS-3)

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The development objective of the Third Social Protection System Support Project for Rwanda is to support the Government of Rwanda to improve the efficiency, accountability and coverage of its social protection system. This proposed credit will help the Government of Rwanda to stay on course for reaching its ambitious poverty reduction goals, while addressing a set of second-generation reforms critical to strengthening the foundation of Rwanda’s social protection system. This operational series focuses on three main areas: improving the efficiency of Rwanda’s social protection system, strengthening accountability and transparency, and expanding social protection (SP) coverage among poor and vulnerable populations. The first and the second Development Policy Operation (DPO) under the current ongoing series, Social Protection Systems (SPS-1and 2), established a set of core reforms under each of the three pillars and laid the groundwork for the series (for additional detail, please see para. 47). Contributing to Efficiency (Pillar 1), reforms included harmonization between the two largest safety net programs, Vision 2020 Umurenge Program (VUP) and Genocide Survivors Assistance Fund (FARG); the launching of a new Ubudehe household registry serving as a foundation database for the iSP-MIS; and the establishment of objectives for a harmonized SP management information system. Contributing to Accountability and Transparency (Pillar 2), reforms included: the formal establishment of social protection as a sector, with related program composition and public expenditures; substantial decentralization and an expansion of key posts at the local government level contributing to direct citizens’ engagement. Contributing to Coverage of Poor and Vulnerable (Pillar 3), coverage of the flagship VUP program expanded from 240 to 416 sectors for the Direct Support component; the Ubudehe poverty classification system for households was restructured; and the Government approved policy options for improving the gender and child sensitivity of SP programs.This SPS-3 DPO will support Rwanda to achieve the end-line goals in Rwanda’s National Social Protection Strategy (2013-18) and Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS-2) (2013-18) as well as Rwanda’s aim of strengthening the prospects of its vulnerable population for graduation from poverty and social assistance.The result of the reforms supported by the three DPO series is the creation of a firm foundation for a social protection system that is increasingly institutionally mature, central to poverty reduction approaches, with national coverage of the flagship VUP SP Program.