Despite Rwanda's impressive achievements in reducing poverty, critical challenges remain, including the need to address the nexus between poverty, vulnerability and child development. With a GDP per capita of US$718 (2015), Rwanda remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Poverty remains high in rural areas and among households with many children. Child malnutrition affects 38 percent of Rwandan children under five, a sign of severe limits on the productive capacity of the next generation. Rwanda's very young demographic profile (17 percent of its population is under 5 years old), coupled with its vision for the future where services will increasingly be drivers of economic growth, calls for investments in the human capital of its children.

Social protection remains one of the Government of Rwanda's main tools for meeting its ambitious poverty reduction and human capital development goals. Rwanda is among global leaders in building an integrated social protection system in a low-income environment that is closely tied to national goals of poverty reduction. Rwanda has emphasized the importance of building effective social protection systems to guarantee a minimum standard of living and access to core public services, boost resilience to livelihood shocks, promote equitable growth and strengthen opportunity through increased human capital development and access to productive employment.