Rwanda is recognised for its strong commitment to gender equality, ranking among the top ten countries globally for closing gender gaps according to the World Economic Forum (WEF, 2021). Key efforts include a revised constitution emphasising gender equality, a 30 % quota for women in decision-making bodies at national level (GMO 2024), the integration of gender equality and women’s empowerment in Rwanda Vision 2050 and a National Gender Policy (2021). Policies supporting girls’ and women’s education (2024), combating Gender-Based Violence (GBV) (2011), promoting gender-responsive planning via Gender Budget Statements, gender-sensitive land reforms for joint titling (2021), and inheritance reforms (2016) have also been implemented (GMO, 2024). Budget allocations tagged to environment, climate change, and gender priorities increased from 0.4 % of the national budget in 2009 to 4.6 % in 2020, reflecting expanded use of thematic budget tagging rather than standalone funding envelopes (CABRI, 2022).

Rwanda has introduced specific CDRFI programmes to improve financial inclusion and mitigate the economic impactof climate-induced disasters, such as floods and droughts. Nonetheless, findings of this analysis show that gaps remain in accessibility and uptake of formal insurance by women smallholder farmers and vulnerable groups.