Researching the Linkages Between Social Protection and Children’s Care in Rwanda: The VUP and its effects on child wellbeing, care and family reunification

This research investigates the links between the Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP), child well-being, children’s care and family reunification. It is part of a wider study on the linkages between social protection and children’s care in Rwanda, Ghana and South Africa. The research is a joint initiative by Family for Every Child and the Centre for Social Protection (CSP) at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) in the UK. 

This qualitative study addresses three overarching questions:

1. What are the linkages between social protection and the quality of children’s care? This question examines whether and how social protection influences child well-being and relationships between children and their parents/ carers.
2. What is the link between social protection and the loss of parental care or family separation? This question considers the impacts of social protection on key factors leading to loss of parental care and family separation, including poverty and access to basic services.
3. How does social protection influence decisions about foster or kinship care? This question explores whether the provision of social protection can offer incentives or disincentives for placing children in alternative care, such as kinship care or foster care.