Rwanda: Maternity leave scheme benefits 5,430 moms, Rwf17.9 billion collected in 2 yrs

Since the maternity leave benefits scheme came into force in November 2016 in Rwanda, around 5,430 mothers had been benefited from it till December 2018.

According to the statistics revealed by the Rwanda Social Security Board, some Rwf17.9 billion in contributions to the maternity leave benefits Scheme has been collected between November 2016 and December 2018. Of the funds, Rwf2 billion was paid out to 1,628 employers who claimed the reimbursement of salaries related to the last six weeks of the maternity leave, as reported by The New Times."Throughout their three-month (or 12 weeks) maternity leave, women get their full salary, which helps them better take care of their new-borns without worrying about losing 80 per cent of their salary in the last six months of their leave," Director of Pension and Pre-retirement Benefits Department at Rwanda Social Security Board, Oswald Munyandekwe told the online publication.

According to Munyandekwe, under the scheme, the employer pays all the due salary to a working mother, who has given birth, for the entire three months, after that Rwanda Social Security Board refunds it money equivalent to the employee's 1.5 months (or six weeks) remuneration.