UNICEF urges Rwanda to protect spending on children
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on KT Press
Illustrative image · Şeyhmus Kino · Pexels · Licence PexelsRwanda’s 2026-2027 budget reaches 7,796.3 billion Rwandan francs, up 12.1%, but spending on education, health, social protection and water rises only 4.2%, to 1,711.3 billion, or 22% of the total. UNICEF Rwanda, which published the budget brief with the Ministry of Finance, is calling on Kigali to protect funding for child-related sectors despite declining external grants.
Rwanda’s budget for sectors directly benefiting children will reach 1,711.3 billion Rwandan francs in 2026/27, up 4.2% year-on-year, according to a budget report published on Thursday by UNICEF Rwanda with the Rwandan Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. Education, health, social protection, and water, sanitation and hygiene therefore account for 22% of the national budget of 7,796.3 billion Rwandan francs.
This increase remains below projected inflation of 10.5%, which could reduce the real purchasing power of these allocations. Their share of the national budget has fallen from 26.8% to 22% in five years and their real allocation is now below that of 2023/24, according to the report. Domestic resources now finance 67.6% of public spending, compared with 7% from external grants.
Lieke van de Wiel, UNICEF Representative in Rwanda, called on the government to protect these investments as it prepares the 2027/28 budget. She said that progress in child survival, primary school enrolment and poverty reduction required sustainable funding.
Education receives 907.3 billion Rwandan francs, the largest allocation of the four sectors, with about 88% coming from domestic resources. The report nevertheless notes shortcomings in pre-primary education.
