Rwanda

Rwanda's National Action Plan on UN Security Council resolution 1325 was officially launched during the International Forum on the Role of Leadership in Promoting, Accelerating and Sustaining Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Kigali, Rwanda on 17-18 May.

The original inhabitants of the equatorial forests of Africa's Great Lakes region – the Batwa Indigenous community - are decrying the high rate of violence against women, says a new report.

President Paul Kagame has promoted all Rwandans and given each one a platform to showcase their ability, a move that has worked as a stepping stone towards the development of the nation, the Speaker of Parliament, Rose Mukantabana said yesterday.

Cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) reduced by 4.9 percent in 2009 from 2,646 cases registered in 2008 to 2,523, according to a new police report.

The report, seen by The New Times, indicates that sexual abuse topped the GBV crime list with 1,570 cases recorded, despite having decreased by 30.6 percent from 2,051 cases the previous year.

President Paul Kagame, yesterday, received the "Lifetime Leadership Award for Development and Equality", from Rwandan women, in recognition of his efforts in developing the nation and promoting equality amongst Rwandans, The New Times reports.

ONE million women, countrywide, will today be marching to highlight the achievements recorded in the areas of gender and women promotion in the country.

This march comes ahead of a two day international conference that has attracted gender and women rights activists from all over the world.

A workshop on conflict prevention, mediation and peace-building for women leaders from member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) was concluded on 12 January in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with the participants agreeing on a number of recommendations related to women's involvement in conflict resolution.

On average women constitute 18.8 percent of representatives in parliaments across the world according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). This gender imbalance has been subject to much feminist criticism and many campaigns for change have been staged to address the status quo. The situation is however different in Rwanda.

30 women entrepreneurs were over the weekend awarded certificates after completing a two-month training in business and leadership conducted by the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW).

Speaking during the ceremony, the Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Dr. Jeanne d'Arc Mujawamariya, hailed the government for its drive in empowering women.

Gender activists from East and Southern Africa have expressed shock at the backward trends in the 50/50 campaign in recent elections. The African Union (AU) has set a goal of achieving parity between women and men in decision-making by 2020, while the Southern African Development Community (SADC) target calls for 50% women in decision-making in all sectors by 2015.