From September 1–4, 2025, a landmark four-day workshop was hosted in Kigali as part of the Global Shield against Climate Risks In-Country Process (ICP). The event brought together government leaders, development partners, civil society, and the private sector to align on how Rwanda can strengthen financial protection against climate-related disasters and safeguard vulnerable communities.
As a key outcome, Rwanda validated its Stocktake and Gap Analysis report and began drafting its Request for Support, marking a major milestone in the country’s ICP.
Why this matters?
Rwanda faces growing climate risks: In May 2023 alone, floods and landslides caused damages surpassing RWF 222.31 billion (USD 193.32 million), highlighting the severe economic impact of these disasters.[1] The Global Shield offers a pathway to shift from reactive aid to pre-arranged finance that delivers faster, more predictable support to vulnerable communities. Rwanda is currently going through the In-Country Process of the Global Shield to enhance its existing approach to disasters, setting an example for others to follow.
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Setting the Stage
In Kigali, the energy was unmistakable as government leaders, international partners, and technical experts came together to tackle one of Rwanda’s most pressing challenges: how to better prepare financially for climate shocks.
Opening the workshop, Mr Ngoga Aristarque, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA), spoke with urgency about Rwanda’s rising exposure to floods, landslides, and other climate-induced disasters. “Vulnerable communities are hit hardest”, he said, “and the time for reactive aid is over”. Instead, Rwanda is looking to shift gears—to get ahead of crises with pre-arranged financing that protects both lives and livelihoods. The Global Shield, he noted, offers a unique chance to close the gaps using a mix of disaster risk funds, insurance solutions, and contingency financing.
Development partners showed strong support. The UK highlighted their key role in the design, implementation and funding of the Global Shield and emphasised the importance of predictable financing for protecting lives and livelihoods when disasters happen. France, who is also a key contributor to the Global Shield funds, reinforced this momentum highlighting climate-sensitive public finance as key for ensuring financial preparedness and achieving national climate goals. The Global Shield Secretariat commended Rwanda’s progress so far, such as the design of the disaster risk finance strategy, while stressing the need to build long-term financial resilience in the face of a changing climate.
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Building a Shared Understanding
The first two days of the workshop focused on aligning perspectives —building a common understanding of what Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance (CDRFI) truly looks like in practice.
Experts from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Global Shield Secretariat highlighted a fundamental principle of climate and disaster risk management: Instead of reacting to disasters once they occur, countries must proactively plan and secure financing in advance to ensure timely and effective support for affected communities. Participants dug into concepts like risk layering and explored tools such as sovereign insurance and contingency funds. The message was clear: financing should be ready before disaster strikes, and it should flow quickly to the people who need it most. Social protection systems, like cash transfers, can play a huge role in making this happen.
The session included practical sessions, turning the spotlight on shock-responsive social protection and the role of insurance. Experts from Oxford Policy Management, the Global Shield Solutions Platform (GSSP), GIZ, and government agencies explored how systems like social registries and safety nets can become powerful “money-out” channels in the wake of a disaster. Rwanda’s own work on a national social registry was highlighted as a big step towards faster, more targeted support.
The conversation also turned to Rwanda’s National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS), which has reached more than 650,000 farmers since 2019. It’s a strong example of how insurance can help build resilience in rural communities—but there are still hurdles to overcome, including affordability, limited coverage, and low awareness.
Stocktake and Strategy Development
Midway through the workshop, attention turned to Rwanda’s current landscape on disaster risk financing—and where the gaps still lie.
Two critical technical outputs of the Global Shield’s In-Country Process (ICP): The stocktake and the gap analysis report lay out a clear picture of what’s working and what’s missing. Challenges include a lack of sovereign risk transfer instruments, institutional capacity constraints, and over-reliance on external financing for disaster response. There’s also a need for stronger data and risk assessment systems.
But there’s movement in the right direction. The government is already developing new strategies—including a Disaster Risk Finance Strategy and a National Insurance Strategy—that aim to fill these gaps. Importantly, both are being aligned with the broader goals of the Global Shield, creating a cohesive plan to strengthen Rwanda’s financial preparedness for disasters.
Towards Action
The final sessions of the workshop focused on charting a path forward, with participants co-defining Rwanda’s priority areas for intervention.
Participants came together to map out Rwanda’s key needs and opportunities across four big themes: risk retention, risk transfer, data systems and risk modelling, and integration with social protection. The group validated the findings of the Stocktake and Gap Analysis, and perhaps most significantly, this has now kicked off the process of drafting Rwanda’s first official Request for Support under the Global Shield. This marks a major milestone. Rwanda is moving from strategy to real, on-the-ground action—and doing so in a way that’s inclusive, sustainable, and focused on people. By linking national strategies with international support, Rwanda is positioning itself to close protection gaps and build financial systems that can respond quickly and fairly when disaster strikes.
It’s a shift from reacting to preparing—from vulnerability to resilience. And this workshop was a powerful reminder that with the right tools, partnerships, and vision, countries like Rwanda can lead the way in building financial resilience to a changing climate.
[1] Government of Rwanda: Rwanda’s 2023 Post-Disaster Needs Assessment.