Contraception
Family planning is one of the healthcare services related to human reproductive health listed in art 21 of Law n° 026/2025 of 17/09/2025 regulating healthcare services, which repealed Law N° 21/05/2016 on human reproductive health (art 110). Art 57 gives every person the right to human reproductive health without discrimination, art 62 gives a healthcare user the right to consent verbally or in writing before a service, and the interpretation article defines a person incapable of giving consent as one who is under 15, or who has an intellectual disability, mental illness or brain damage; for such a person the representative consents (art 62(2)).
Under the repealed 2016 law a child was a person under 18 (art 2) and art 7 gave the right to decide on one's own reproductive health to every person who had reached the majority age, subject to other laws. That law also made it a parent's or guardian's duty to discuss reproductive health with children (art 14), required school curricula to teach it (art 19) and obliged the Government to raise public awareness on family planning, to sensitise spouses to reach a common understanding on it and to raise youth awareness (art 20). The Center for Reproductive Rights, writing about the 2025 law, says adolescents of 15 and over can now seek contraception and HIV prevention without parental or third-party consent, whereas they previously generally had to wait until 18 or marriage; The New Times likewise reports that teenagers of 15 and over can reach sexual and reproductive health services without parental consent.
The gazette text reaches this result through the definition of a person incapable of giving consent rather than through a rule written for family planning: someone else decides below the age of 15 or where the user has an intellectual disability, mental illness or brain damage. The representatives listed are the user's parent, adult child, spouse, adult sibling, legal custodian or any other person the healthcare facility designates in the user's best interests. A healthcare user also has the right to accurate and reliable information about his or her health (art 59), and the law contains an article titled Confidentiality (art 51) and a non-discrimination guarantee in reproductive health (art 57).
The 2025 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey, whose data were collected from 5 June to 25 October 2025, found that 69% of currently married women aged 15 to 49 use a method of contraception, 64% a modern one and 5% a traditional one, while 52% of sexually active unmarried women use a modern method. Modern use among married women ranges from 61% in the City of Kigali to 72% in the Northern Province, 9% of married women have an unmet need for family planning, and the government sector supplies the method of 91% of modern users. In the 2019-20 survey the figures were 64% for any method and 58% for a modern one, with implants (27%), injectables (15%) and the pill (7%) the most used methods and modern use ranging from 54% in the West to 65% in the North.
Key points
| Statute | Law n° 026/2025 (arts 21(c), 57 and 62), in force 18 September 2025; repealed Law N° 21/05/2016 |
|---|---|
| Consent age | From 15 the user consents; below 15 a representative consents (arts 2 and 62) |
| Earlier rule | The right to decide alone belonged to persons of majority age, 18 (Law 21/2016, arts 2 and 7) |
| Representatives | Parent, adult child, spouse, adult sibling, legal custodian, or a person designated by the facility (art 2) |
| Right to information | Accurate and reliable information on one's health status (art 59) |
| Any method (currently married women) | 69% in 2025 (modern 64%, traditional 5%); 64% in 2019-20 (modern 58%) |
| Modern use by province | From 61% in the City of Kigali to 72% in the Northern Province (2025) |
| Unmet need for family planning | 9% of currently married women (2025) |
| Source of modern methods | Government sector for 91% of users (2025) |
In practice
- From 15, ask for family planning in a healthcare facility in your own name: you give consent verbally or in writing (art 62(1)); under 15 your representative gives it (art 62(2)).
- Ask the provider for accurate and reliable information about your health and the options, which art 59 makes your right.
- Under 15 or with an intellectual disability, mental illness or brain damage, expect the facility to ask for a representative: a parent, spouse, adult child, adult sibling, legal custodian or a person the facility designates in your best interests (art 2).
- Raise any discrimination or breach of confidentiality with the facility, since arts 51 and 57 guarantee confidentiality and non-discrimination.
Cost and coverage
Art 40 of Law n° 026/2025 has the Ministry set the price of healthcare services by ministerial order; none of the sources opened gives a price for contraceptive methods or consultations.
Recent changes
The law took effect on 18 September 2025; the Center for Reproductive Rights reports that parliament passed it on 4 August 2025 and that it lowers the age of access to sexual and reproductive health care from 18 to 15.
Where to go
- Healthcare facilities, which provide family planning among the reproductive health services of Law n° 026/2025 (art 21(c)); the government sector supplied 91% of modern-method users in 2025 (RDHS).
- The Ministry in charge of health, which sets service prices by ministerial order (art 40).
Worth knowing
The reports that age 15 applies to contraception come from the Center for Reproductive Rights and The New Times; the gazette itself sets the age only in the definition of a person incapable of giving consent and does not single out family planning, and the guidelines or orders that implement it were not found.
Frequently asked questions
Can a 15-year-old get contraception without a parent's consent in Rwanda?
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights and The New Times, yes since Law n° 026/2025 took effect on 18 September 2025. The gazette makes a person under 15 unable to consent to health care (art 2), so from 15, absent an intellectual disability, mental illness or brain damage, the user consents in his or her own name (art 62).
Does a wife need her husband's agreement to use contraception?
None of the articles read makes family planning depend on a spouse's agreement: consent is the healthcare user's own right (art 62), and a spouse appears among the representatives only for a user who cannot consent (art 2).
How many Rwandan women use modern contraception?
In the 2025 Demographic and Health Survey, 64% of currently married women aged 15 to 49 used a modern method and 69% used any method, up from 58% and 64% in the 2019-20 survey.
Sources
- Law n° 026/2025 of 17/09/2025 regulating healthcare services, Official Gazette Special of 18/09/2025 (trilingual gazette; Ministry of Justice copy) — arts 2, 21, 40, 51, 57, 59, 62 and 110 (English column of the gazette; French column cross-checked)
- Law N° 21/05/2016 of 20/05/2016 relating to human reproductive health, Official Gazette no. 23 of 06/06/2016 (now repealed; archive.gazettes.africa copy) — arts 2, 7, 14, 19 and 20 of the repealed 2016 law
- Center for Reproductive Rights, "Center Drives Landmark Law Expanding Health Care Access for Adolescents in Rwanda" — report of 21 August 2025 that adolescents of 15 and over can seek contraception without parental consent; 18 to 15 change
- The New Times, "What Rwanda's new health law means for access to sexual, reproductive services" — report on access to sexual and reproductive health services from 15
- Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey 2025 (2025 RDHS) -- Final Report (National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda and Ministry of Health) — chapter 7 (family planning), key findings: 69% any method, 64% modern, 5% traditional; 61% to 72% by province; unmet need 9%; government sector 91%
- 2019-20 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey -- Summary Report (NISR, Ministry of Health and The DHS Program) — 2019-20 figures: 64% any method, 58% modern, implants 27%, injectables 15%, pill 7%, West 54% to North 65%
The general article: Contraception · Compare with another country
Abortion
Abortion is an offence in Rwanda (Penal Code, arts 123 and 124) unless the pregnant person is a child, the pregnancy results from rape, forced marriage or incest up to the second degree, or it endangers the health of the pregnant person or the foetus (art 125); a recognised doctor performs it in a licensed hospital or polyclinic, within 22 weeks unless health is at risk (Ministerial Order 002/MoH/2019).
| Self-induced abortion, or consent to an unlawful one | 1 to 3 years' imprisonment and a fine of FRW 100,000 to 200,000 (Penal Code, art 123 as rewritten in 2023) |
|---|---|
| Abortion on another person | 3 to 5 years; negligence causing an abortion: 1 to 2 years and FRW 300,000 to 500,000 or one of them (art 124) |
| Resulting disability or death | Certified disability: 20 to 25 years; death: life imprisonment (art 124) |
Full detail: Abortion
Drugs and controlled substances
The sources opened show no stand-alone drug statute: the offences are in Section 6 of the Penal Code, Law N° 68/2018 (arts 263 to 266), whose art 263 was rewritten by art 11 of Law N° 69/2019 (Official Gazette Special of 29/11/2019), and Ministerial Order N° 001/MoH/2019 of 04/03/2019, published in Official Gazette no. 10 of 11/03/2019, lists the substances by category and replaced Ministerial Order N° 20/35 of 09/06/2015. The Order puts narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, precursors and unauthorised drinks considered as drugs into three categories, 'very severe', 'severe' and 'simple' (art 2), and says their use is authorised only on the written prescription of a certified health practitioner (art 7).
Since the 2019 rewrite, art 263 punishes a person who is caught with, eats, drinks, injects, inhales or applies narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances with one to two years' imprisonment or community service; the 2018 text did not mention being caught with them. A person who unlawfully produces, transforms, transports, stores, gives to another or sells them in the country faces, by category, life imprisonment and a fine of more than FRW 20 million and not more than 30 million for very severe drugs, 20 to 25 years and FRW 15 million to 20 million for severe drugs, and 7 to 10 years and FRW 5 million to just under 10 million for simple drugs; where those trafficking acts are committed against a child or at the international level the penalty is life imprisonment and a fine of more than FRW 30 million and up to 50 million. Facilitating another person's drug use, and dispensing drugs on prescriptions that are clearly false, carry three to five years and FRW 3 million to 5 million (art 264); the court orders confiscation of the drugs, their derivatives and antecedents and of the equipment and facilities used, even where the offender does not own them if the owner knew how they were used (art 265); and producing, selling or prescribing prohibited medical or plant-derived products carries one to two years and FRW 3 million to 5 million, or one of them (art 266).
The categories come from Annex I to the Order: very severe drugs are cocaine, heroin, cannabis and opium; severe drugs are khat (Catha edulis), shisha, Datura stramonium and electronic cigarettes. International Schedule I substances listed in Annex II also fall in the very severe category and Schedule II substances in the severe one. Simple drugs comprise alcoholic drinks produced without complying with standards and other laws, chemical substances whose original use has been diverted, and Schedule III, IV and V substances (arts 3 to 5). The Minister of Health may add any other chemical substance, precursor or drink and decide its category (art 6).
The English and French texts of art 263, in 2018 as in 2019, use the same word, 'severe' ('forts'), for the first two penalty tiers, whereas the Kinyarwanda text, in which the 2019 law was drafted and adopted (its art 12), names three distinct categories ('bihambaye', 'bikomeye', 'byoroheje'), as the Order does, and also lists cultivating ('uhinga') among the trafficking acts; the reading above follows the Kinyarwanda text and the Order. On 28 June 2023 the Rwanda National Police described the framework, the rehabilitation centres at Iwawa, Gitagata and Nyamagabe run through the National Rehabilitation Service, 2,000 anti-drug clubs in schools and communities and more than 730,000 youth volunteers supporting awareness work.
Key points
| Being caught with or using drugs | 1 to 2 years' imprisonment or community service (Penal Code, art 263 as rewritten by Law N° 69/2019) |
|---|---|
| Production, transport, storage, supply or sale in the country | Very severe: life and over FRW 20 up to 30 million; severe: 20 to 25 years and FRW 15 to 20 million; simple: 7 to 10 years and FRW 5 to under 10 million (art 263) |
| Trafficking against a child or internationally | Life imprisonment and a fine of over FRW 30 up to 50 million (art 263) |
| Facilitating use | 3 to 5 years and FRW 3 to 5 million; same for dispensing on clearly false prescriptions (art 264) |
| Confiscation | Drugs, derivatives, equipment and facilities, even if the offender is not the owner but the owner knew (art 265) |
| Very severe category | Cocaine, heroin, cannabis, opium, plus international Schedule I substances (Order 001/MoH/2019, art 3 and Annex I) |
| Severe category | Khat, shisha, Datura stramonium, electronic cigarettes, plus Schedule II substances (art 4 and Annex I) |
| Simple category | Non-compliant alcoholic drinks, diverted chemicals, Schedules III to V (art 5) |
| Medical use | Only on the written prescription of a certified health practitioner (art 7) |
In practice
- Look up the substance in Annex I to Order 001/MoH/2019 before judging exposure: cannabis is in the very severe category, khat and shisha in the severe one.
- Keep the written prescription for any controlled medicine: art 7 of the Order allows use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances only on prescription by a certified health practitioner.
- Do not pass drugs to others or help them obtain them: facilitating another person's use carries three to five years, the same as dispensing on a clearly false prescription (art 264).
- Treat home-brewed or non-compliant alcoholic drinks with care: the Order lists drinks produced without respecting standards and other laws among simple narcotic drugs (art 5).
- Leave vapes at home when travelling: electronic cigarettes are in the Order's severe category, and the UK government's travel advice, updated in September 2026, warns that vapes and e-cigarettes are banned in Rwanda.
Cost and coverage
Fines run from FRW 3 million (facilitating use or prohibited medical products) to FRW 50 million (offences on a child or at the international level).
Recent changes
Law N° 69/2019, published on 29 November 2019, rewrote art 263 to cover being caught with drugs; the 2023 amending law left arts 263 to 266 untouched. On 28 June 2023 the Rwanda National Police restated that Order 001/MoH/2019 lists cannabis among the very severe drugs.
Where to go
- The Rwanda National Police, which enforces the offences and runs the anti-drug clubs it reports (Rwanda National Police, 2023).
- The National Rehabilitation Service's centres at Iwawa, Gitagata and Nyamagabe (Rwanda National Police, 2023).
- The Minister of Health, who issues and extends the list of drugs and categories by order (Penal Code, art 263; Order, art 6).
Worth knowing
Since 2019 being caught with drugs is enough for the one-to-two-year offence of art 263, even without proof of use; the penalty tiers for trafficking depend on the category in the Order, which the Minister of Health can extend (Order, art 6).
Frequently asked questions
Is cannabis legal in Rwanda?
No: Annex I to Ministerial Order 001/MoH/2019 puts cannabis among the very severe drugs, for which producing, transporting, storing, supplying or selling carries life imprisonment and a fine of more than FRW 20 million and up to 30 million (Penal Code, art 263).
What is the penalty for using or carrying drugs?
One to two years' imprisonment or community service for being caught with, consuming, injecting, inhaling or applying them (art 263 as rewritten in 2019); a person who helps another obtain drugs faces three to five years and a fine of FRW 3 million to 5 million (art 264).
Can drugs be used on medical prescription?
Yes: art 7 of the Order authorises the use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances on the written prescription of a certified health practitioner.
Sources
- Law N° 68/2018 of 30/08/2018 determining offences and penalties in general, Official Gazette Special of 27/09/2018 (trilingual; FAOLEX copy) — arts 263 to 266 as published in 2018 (English, French and Kinyarwanda columns compared)
- Law N° 69/2019 of 08/11/2019 amending Law N° 68/2018 determining offences and penalties in general, Official Gazette Special of 29/11/2019 -- Ministry of Justice copy — art 11: art 263 rewritten (being caught with drugs, sale in the country, aggravation for trafficking against a child or internationally); art 12: drafted in Ikinyarwanda
- Law N° 059/2023 of 04/12/2023 amending Law N° 68/2018 determining offences and penalties in general, Official Gazette Special of 05/12/2023 -- gazette copy archived by Gazettes.Africa — list of articles amended in 2023 (arts 263 to 266 not among them)
- UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, travel advice for Rwanda, 'Safety and security' (updated 4 September 2026) — vapes and e-cigarettes banned in Rwanda
- Ministerial Order N° 001/MoH/2019 of 04/03/2019 establishing the list of narcotic drugs and their categorisation, Official Gazette no. 10 of 11/03/2019 (copy hosted by the Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority) — arts 1 to 8 and Annex I (categories and listed substances) and Annex II (international schedules)
- Rwanda National Police, "Rwanda's comprehensive strategy: a remarkable effort in combating drug abuse and trafficking" (28 June 2023) — 28 June 2023: rehabilitation centres, anti-drug clubs and volunteers; the police's summary of penalties is not relied on
The general article: Drugs and controlled substances · Compare with another country