The First Lady, Jeannette Kagame, on Thursday said considering women as part of a productive workforce is not a favour but a call of duty, an area where women excel in any case.

She was speaking at the global call to action conference on girls’ and women’s financial health held on the sidelines of the 69th United Nations General Assembly in New York.

She said the world today has become more competitive and demanding of time, energy and skills.

"The level of ambition is much higher for individuals, families, communities and countries. It, therefore, doesn’t make sense to exclude women – more than half the world’s population – from national life and productive activity,” she said.

She gave a detailed account of gender-based segregation that existed in Rwanda prior to 1994 and  the efforts that have since been made to reform the country.

"In the  aftermath  of  the 1994  Genocide  against  the  Tutsi,  a large  proportion  of men had been  killed  or incarcerated for Genocide crimes. We were faced with the difficult task of rebuilding a torn nation, and repairing our broken social fabric. We needed concerted effort and women rose to the task,” she said.

She enumerated the progress the country has made with the involvement of women in the nation’s life.

The First Lady told participants that; "We are at an exciting time of our economic transformation. We need to sustain the gains we have made.”

The meeting brought together First Ladies, philanthropists, NGOs, and experts, and focused on issues affecting women and girls, including access to financing, personal safety, and child-headed households.

The ultimate goal is to develop programmes that will support women and girls’ financial health around the world, minimising their marginalisation and improving their well-being.

Meanwhile, earlier on, Mrs Kagame had also spoken at the high-level dialogue on maternal and newborn health beyond 2014, with focus on adolescent girls.

 As Vice President of the organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/Aids (OAFLA), Mrs. Kagame delivered a statement at the event hosted by Unaids where she expressed OAFLA’s commitment to advocating for health, especially in the areas of elimination of mother- to-child transmission of HIV and adolescent reproductive health.