A database, containing the socio-economic information of all households in the country, will be available by March.

"This database will categorize people from destitute, very poor, poor, average poor, up to the
richest person,” explains Fidele Kayira, the national coordinator of Community Development Fund
(CDF)-Ubudehe programme.

He said the documentation is urgently needed for listing the beneficiaries of Mutuelles de
Santé (community-based health insurance) and of Student Financing Agency for Rwanda (SFAR), for
people who can’t afford it.

Ubudehe is a government programme aimed at reducing poverty levels with a special emphasis on
poor households.

It operates at the lowest administrative unit, the cell, and brings together all members of the
community to assess their socio-economic conditions, define their priorities and decide on what
to do in order to improve their well being.

 "We have so far reached 8 million people, representing 120 villages across the country and we
hope by the end of March to have registered the remaining three million,” said Kayira.

The database will show the status of all households since 2007.

Kayira however said that some people give false information about their status, placing
themselves in a group they don’t belong to.

"Some register as being very poor, aiming to benefit from the programme,” he said, adding that
movement of people, especially in Kigali City, has been affecting the completion of the
database.

Since the start of the programme, 85 percent under the programme have been elevated to a better
standard of living, according to CDF officials.

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