UN poverty expert warns against Rwanda balancing its budget ‘on the backs of the poor’ News
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UN poverty expert warns against Rwanda balancing its budget ‘on the backs of the poor’

UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Olivier De Schutter said on Friday that Rwanda needs to better distribute its wealth to protect populations that are still living below the poverty line, especially vulnerable rural populations.

Although De Schutter praised Rwanda for its marked progress in reducing poverty, he warned that much could be undone if plans to cut social protection are implemented. He noted that funding for many social services is largely provided by support from foreign donors, which is “becoming increasingly unpredictable.” Social protection reserves have been slashed by 22 percent in the 2024-2025 budget, and an additional 30 percent cut is expected by next year. 

De Schutter stated: “Rwanda must not make the same mistakes of other countries that have balanced the budget on the backs of the poor—making counterproductive spending cuts that hit the most vulnerable the hardest.”

In a previous statement, De Schutter noted that Rwanda has lifted approximately 1.5 million of its people out of poverty between 2017 and 2024. Following the Tutsi genocide in 1994, which took nearly one million ethnic Tutsi and moderate Hutu lives, the country faced a major humanitarian crisis. Many people faced and continue to grapple with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and the nation as a whole confronted a 58 percent decrease in GDP in 1994. De Schutter said that the challenge now is “to reach the approximately 3.6 million people still living below the poverty line, in an environment of cuts to international aid and the national budget.”

According to recent data, the current unemployment rate sits at 11.1 percent, with the majority of those living below the poverty line living in rural areas. A report from the World Bank Group highlighted overall low productivity in Rwanda, “reflecting infrastructure gaps, limited progress in innovation, and sub-optimal allocative efficiency.” Despite projected GDP growth thanks to global tourism, new construction projects, and manufacturing activities, “[t]he benefits of structural transformation have tended to accrue to more educated workers, worsening inequality.”

 

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