Legal analysis of access to old-age public pension benefits in Rwanda: challenges and trends

Nyiramuzima, O. (2022)

Doctoral Thesis

Odette Nyiramuzima’s dissertation is a Legal analysis of access to Old-age public pension benefits in Rwanda: Challenges and Trends. Based on the approaches adopted by the ILO, the study’s objective was the assessment of Rwandan pension legislation and its compatibility with international social security standards.
As part of the findings, the study identifies gaps in national pension legislation with regard to coverage and benefit adequacy and finds out the usefulness of adopted International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions. From the assessment, the right to social security, including basic income security in old-age is not realized for many elderly people. Therefore, the study suggests a combination of different approaches such as contributory and non-contributory pension schemes, supported by progressive formalization of the informal activities, as an effective strategy to close pension coverage gap. These findings were reached by using doctrinal legal approach and comparative legal approach complimented by a study of ILO social security standards and reports, International Social Security Association (ISSA) publication, Rwanda’s pension legislation and policies and Focus Group Discussion.
Odette’s study, one of the very few on this subject and area, forms a useful basis for discussion and further research on pension rights enforcement in a developing country context.

• Social security
• Social protection
• Coverage
• Public pension
• Rights-based
• Benefits Adequacy
• Social security standards
• Universal coverage
• Income security
• Pension legislation

• All authors: Nyiramuzima, O.
• Supervisor: Barentsen, B.; Huls, N.J.H.
• Committee: Heerma van Voss, G.J.J.; Erkens, M.Y.H.G.; Dekker, M.; Butare, T.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Institute of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Leiden University
• Date: 2022-12-01