Exiting Poverty in Rwanda (EPR)

The Exiting Poverty in Rwanda (EPR) programme aims to enable people to exit out of poverty at the same time as protecting Rwanda’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens’ future. EPR is funded by FCDO, with contributions from KfW.

The Technical Assistance (TA) Facility has been providing technical expertise and capacity building to the Government of Rwanda (GOR), specifically the Ministry of Local Governments (MINALOC) and the Local Administrative Entities Development Agency (LODA). The TA Facility has also supported the effective implementation of its Social Protection Sector Strategic Plan (SP-SSP) and ultimately a strengthened national social protection system, as well as the delivery of FCDO’s EPR programme which aims to eradicate extreme poverty and reduce overall poverty.

To achieve this outcome, the EPR TA facility has the following objectives:

1. Enhance institutional capacity for evidence-based planning, strategic sector management, and effective SP service delivery.
2. Improve access of selected vulnerable groups to more effective core social security instruments.
3. Establish systems for shock-responsive social protection.
4. Support improvements to existing social protection systems, including MEIS, and their integration to the new Social Registry.
5. Strengthen linkages between SP and complementary services that enable sustainable graduation from extreme poverty.
6. Support FCDO with implementation of EPR and GoR with the implementation of SP-SSP through direct engagement.

Cowater is responsible for the design and management of the TA Facility. The TA Facility delivers capacity building interventions through technical inputs and advice, training and workshops, undertakes studies and research, and coaches government technical personnel. The TA we provide helps to drive forward the design, piloting and scale-up of innovations within the Social Protection sector as set out in the SP-SSP and EPR Business Case, which includes work on graduation, shock responsive SP and vulnerability targeting. Greater focus has been on influencing the wider policy context for social protection, strengthening systems and building capacity and learning to underpin the delivery of the programme and its long-term sustainability.