Government plans to launch the "Dynamic Social Registry” by the end of January 2024. This registry will be used to identify individuals in need of support, replacing the current Ubudehe categories.

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Ubudehe classification, which is based on household financial status, was first introduced by the government in 2000 as part of the strategies to address poverty reduction.

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Previously, financial assistance to the poor, university tuition fees, subsidised community-based health insurance "Mutuelle de Santé”, among other benefits, were based on Ubudehe classifications.

However, the Ministry of Local Government explained in a statement that Ubudehe classification was facing malpractices in the community, where many citizens, regardless of their socio-economic status, wanted to be in the lowest category that receives support from the government and stakeholders.

The malpractices triggered the development of the new system to identify beneficiaries of social protection programmes.

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The new system has data on households’ status to help identify the needy in different sectors according to Ariane Mugisha, Chief Digital Officer at the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC).

"The system will eliminate favouritism in selecting beneficiaries of social protection programmes. It will also help fast-track graduation out of poverty. All partners, non-government organisations, and faith-based organisations have to use this registry to support vulnerable people. The registry indicates districts with a large number of vulnerable households, which is helpful to allocate resources and kind of needed support,” she noted.

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She said other systems such as land registry, taxing, public servants system, and others were integrated into the new social registry system to assess the economic status and welfare of households.

"We have completed version one of the system and we will keep improving it upon different requests. The birth registration system was also integrated to help know the number of family members. The system was incorporated into Rwanda Social Security system to guide community-based health insurance (Mutuelle de santé) implementation,” she noted.

The registry is part of a national social protection policy implementation.

The revised 2020 policy indicates that changes in the welfare and socio-economic status of social protection beneficiaries will be monitored through dynamic household profiling and social registry, set to launch by the end of January. This will include a mobile-phone-based household monitoring system managed by proximity advisors, and a multi-dimensional household welfare assessment mechanism to be implemented annually on a sample basis.

Government needed Rwf900 billion from 2017 to 2024 to fund the social protection scheme. The Fifth Integrated Household Living Survey (EICV5) shows that poverty decreased from 39.1 per cent in 2013/14 to 38.2 per cent in 2016/17, while extreme poverty decreased from 16.3 per cent to 16.1 per cent.

According to the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1) developed in 2017/18, by 2024, extreme poverty has to be less than one per cent.

Households in poverty and extreme poverty will sign performance contracts on the journey to graduate out of poverty within two years only, MINALOC said.

A list of partners engaged in helping districts to implement a plan to eradicate poverty, and vulnerable households to be supported was recommended.