The impact of the UBUDEHE program on poverty reduction in Rwanda:

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to assess the impact of Ubudehe program on poverty reduction in Rwanda. Ubudehe was program started in 2001 in the name” Ubudehe mu krwanya ubukene” which means ubudehe in the fight against poverty, however after all the 13 years little is known about the program’s impact on poverty reduction in Rwanda. The was guided by the following objectives; to find out how the Ubudehe credit scheme has helped to reduce poverty in Rwanda, to investigate the impact of Ubudehe scholarship program on poverty reduction and to find out how the Ubudehe health insurance program helps to reduce poverty in Rwanda. The study was carried out using detailed literature review thereby analyzing what different authors have written about the topic. This was done using online journals and books. The analyzed data was collected using administered questionnaires; the study was conducted using 50 respondents. The results indicated that most of the respondents were females, 59.4% and the males were 40.4%. The results also showed that most of the respondents agreed that the ubudehe program has improved their access to education, health services and has also helped them grow their small businesses, Ubudehe Program was found to have a 65.9 % effect on Poverty Reduction. Finally recommendations were suggested such as need to implement community awareness and sensitization about the benefits of the program so as to meet its goa