Rwanda

According to the Global Fund, war and militarism have a profound impact on women inside and outside of conflict situations. Sexual violence, intimidation and wife battery are just a few of the problems that women all over the world have to live with almost on a daily basis.

While women are not new to politics, women's presence and faces in politics have become increasingly more commonplace. Furthermore, women's entrance to politics is not just during times of peace, but also in times of unrest. During a change, conflict, transition or political shift more women are found entering politics, albeit through a series of factors and different representational capacities.

What most of us know about Rwanda – other than the fact that it is a small country in central Africa – is that in 1994 there was an horrific genocide where hundreds of thousands of people were murdered in 100 days.

Women have made significant advances in politics over the past few decades, with females having served as the head of state in many prominent countries, including Britain, India, Germany, Pakistan, and others.
However, males tend to outnumber females in most parliaments (democratically-elected or otherwise) around the world.

Rwanda is the first country in the world where women outnumber men in parliament, with women occupying 45 out of 80 seats. However, despite this, experts say that the country still needs a gender equality perspective on how national resources and programmes are implemented.

Members of security organs from various countries applauded Rwanda for taking adopting numerous initiatives to fight Gender Based Violence (GBV).

The officers drawn from Africa, America and Asia said this yesterday, while touring the Isange One Stop Centre established at Kacyiru Police Hospital to offer medical services and care to GBV victims.

What do driving, voting, wearing pants, and protesting have in common? They are forms of political expression for many women in the Arab world right now. This political expression is often a basic effort to participate in political systems and give voice to simple needs like getting to work, or taking a child to school, as well as more powerful human needs of influencing a movement for major political change.

Next Friday, the Rwanda Women Parliamentary Forum (FFRP) will celebrate 15 years of existence and, if the news conference members held is anything to go by, they are pretty pleased with themselves.

They took the opportunity to highlight their achievements in championing women rights and gender equality, and truth be told, there are some awesome achievements.

The United Nations on Friday named two Congolese Army colonels who appear to be blocking an investigation of soldiers accused of raping at least 47 women in eastern Congo, and said that if the attackers were not identified, the officers themselves should stand trial for the crimes committed by the troopers under their command.

Last month, the first woman ever was convicted of genocide.