By Thomas Kagera

One UN Celebrates International Women’s Day In addition to the many ongoing projects focused on women’s empowerment and gender equality which One UN and its constituent agencies support throughout the year, there have been three special events in the past two weeks which were organized with the help of One UN and within the spirit of International Women’s Day.

The First Lady Award

On Saturday, March 1, 124 girls from Kigali had the honor of receiving the Best Performing Girls award from H.E. The First Lady of Rwanda Jeanette Kagame. On the occasion of the presentation of these First Lady Awards, UNICEF Representative in Rwanda Noala Skinner stated that: "Rwanda has been recognized for its great achievements in access to education. It has recently been listed as one of the top three performing countries for reducing the out of school population by 85%. The work is well underway and the UN family, with support from our donor partners, are proud to be accompanying the girls, boys, men and women of Rwanda”. The event was organized by the Imbuto Foundation in partnership with One UN. This year, a total of 434 primary and secondary school girls will be awarded nationwide.

Ms Geek

On Saturday 8th of March, International Women’s Day, Girls In ICT Rwanda, supported by UNDP, the Government of Rwanda and various corporate and academic sponsors, held the first ever Ms. Geek Rwanda competition at the Lemigo Hotel. The competition encouraged female Rwandan university students to showcase their knowledge and skills in ICT. Five top students pitched their innovative and ambitious applications.