A three–day international conference opens today in Kigali to explore the contribution of social protection to poverty reduction in the country. 

 The conference was organised by the Ministry of Local Government in partnership with the Centre for Social Protection at the Institute of Development Studies, UK. 

 About 150 participants are expected at the conference, including policy-makers and researchers from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America.

 The Local Government minister says the conference will serve as a platform to share Rwanda’s experience based on the fact that it has been implementing social protection programmes from the days of  EDPRS I. 

 "Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme –VUP was adopted as a tool to implement social protection, which was conceived as one of the flagships of EDPRS I. Social protection programmes paid off and more than one million Rwandans were lifted out of poverty within a period of five years. It is good that the world has appreciated Rwanda’s efforts and wants to share our experience with others,” he said in a statement.

 This conference provides a unique opportunity for Rwanda to showcase its achievements to an international audience and draw lessons from relevant experiences in other countries, the statement added. 

 During the conference, participants will advance understanding of graduation in theory, and examine the evidence on graduation in practice.

 The forum is structured around a series of panels, where panellists will share experiences with graduation programmes, or discuss specific topics. 

 Minister Musoni said: "Hosting such an event is an opportunity to showcase the country’s achievements in socio-economic transformation, and enable different people to know more about the country without basing only on the internet and hearsay. 

 The conference is funded by the Ministry of Local Government, Department for International Development (UK), Unicef and Irish Aid.

 It will be followed by a one-day meeting that will bring together all the district vice-mayors in charge of social affairs and key players under the social cluster, to discuss the implementation of key resolutions from the international conference.