Rwanda

Women rights activists are preparing to share Rwanda's practices in promoting gender with the rest of the world.

The activists, from government, the UN and other civil society organisations, met in Kigali, yesterday, to discuss Rwanda's progress in promoting women's rights in order to share their story at the UN 57th Summit on the status of women in New York, US, next month.

Rwanda President Paul Kagame has spoken out on the importance of women leadership, accountability for commitments to women empowerment and the need to accelerate the momentum towards greater inclusion and fairness.

A group of 15 policewomen became the first all-women team to deploy with the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast, a police adviser said.

The United Nations police adviser, Ann-Marie Orler, has welcomed the arrival of Rwanda's female police contingent in Ivory Coast.

The contingent of 15 female police officers is the first police unit to serve with the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) since it was established in 2004 by the Security Council to facilitate the peace process in the country.

The UN Women Executive Director, Michelle Bachelet has called on governments to employ effective means to fight violence against women and girls.

In her message to mark the annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women that is marked on November 25, Bachelet said governments need to demonstrate more efforts and commitment to curb the violence.

About 70 per cent of Rwandan women deliver under the supervision of a professional medical practitioner, an official has said.

In 2000, only 10 per cent women delivered from proper health facilities, according to Dr Fidel Ngabo, the Coordinator of Maternal and Child Health in the Ministry of Health.

AS the African Development Bank (AfDB) plans to transform the state of gender parity on the African continent, a new strategy has been developed to ensure that economic opportunities, social progress and participation in decision making are gender inclusive.

This came up at a two-day regional consultative meeting on the Bank Group Strategy 2013 to 2017 that ended in Kigali on Tuesday.

Many people erroneously view gender as 'women's presence'. Yet, the women's presence is just the beginning, not the end point. For example, it is indeed a landmark that Rwanda has the highest number of women in the national parliament in the world - 56.3 per cent. It sounds politically correct, if you like.

Today we celebrate the 'International Day of the Girl Child' a day that the whole world has dedicated to you. A day that will promote your rights as girls, highlight gender inequalities that remain between you and your brothers and look for ways to correct any discrimination and abuse suffered by girls around the globe.