The rise of homegrown ideas and grassroots voices new directions in social policy in Rwanda : prepared for the UNRISD project on New Directions in Social Policy: Alternatives for and from the Global South

Innovation in social policy in Rwanda has placed the grassroots at the forefront of policy formulation. Escobar (2011) notes that development, to be enduring and effective, ought to be based in the assessment of local realities, which are the lived experiences and past history of a people, as inherent in these are the proper conditions for and of change. Rwanda has institutionalized several indigenous knowledge based social policies. These indigenous knowledge based social policies are formulated and implemented in such a way as to be adaptable to existing realities, and emerging or changing social demands. Certain studies have shown the cost effectiveness and high impact factor of indigenous knowledge based policies in Rwanda. At the grassroots level of governance, indigenous knowledge becomes more important as citizens are already culturally in tune and familiar with the foundational elements and basic tenets of such policies. This paper examines the place of homegrown, indigenous knowledge and grassroots based ideas in the processes of developing social policies in Rwanda. Specifically, the paper explores what political, social and economic institutions there are that influence the strengthening of grassroots and/or local knowledge, processes and structures in social policy action in Rwanda. The major source of information for this study was drawn from government of Rwanda’s policy documents, reports from international organizations and non-governmental agencies, and strengthened with existing literature on social policy action experiences of countries around the world.