Unleashing the capacities of vulnerable households: Concern Worldwide’s Graduation Programme in Rwanda

Concern Worldwide

ABSTRACT

Concern Worldwide launched a programme called ‘Enhancing the Productive Capacity of Extremely Poor People’, also known as the ‘Graduation Programme’, in two districts of southern Rwanda – Huye and Nyaruguru – in May 2011. The Programme supports extremely poor households with a sequenced package that includes: cash transfers to meet basic needs, skills development and asset transfers to improve livelihood options, and savings facilities to buffer risk and fund investments in productive activities, with the goal of facilitating sustainable exits from extreme poverty. The monitoring and evaluation (M&E) component aims to generate useful learning in support of the Government of Rwanda’s Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme and the National Social Protection Strategy.