Rwanda NationalPolice (RNP) has fostered an ideal gender-promotion environment that has enabled women to have a platform on which they can exercise their rights and freely contribute to the security development of the country.

Lamin Manneh, the One-UN Rwanda resident coordinator, said this yesterday during a training workshop for commissioned female officers, held at the RNP Headquarters in Kacyiru.

The workshop, which was opened by the Minister for Gender and Family Promotion, Oda Gasinzigwa, attracted 100 women officers under the auspices of RNP and One-UN, to enhance the officers’ capacity in policing duties.

Manneh said Rwanda’s reputation as a champion of gender equality has continued to rise internationally and commended RNP for recognising the special work done by women officers.

"We share Rwanda’s vision of being a country free from all forms of discrimination, especially those based on gender; a country that is almost free of corruption provides this generation and the future generation a platform to fully participate in the affairs of the country,” Manneh said.

"In many countries on the African continent, there is strong expression to improve gender equality but it is not followed through with strong actions to implement these expressions. Rwanda is an exceptional country that has put into action these dreams,” he added.

He praised RNP for enabling female officers to get promoted at the same footing as their male counterparts, and added that the achievements made in the promotion of gender equality in Rwanda came as a surprise considering its past that was blighted by the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, where gang rape and defilement was used as a weapon.

The Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel K. Gasana, told the conference that gender promotion empowerment has positively impacted policing strategies and enabled modest progress to be achieved over a period of time.

"Gender equality is not a favour but a right,” he said, adding that: "A country cannot fully develop if women are not given the right environment to contribute economically.”

"We always seek to give more opportunities to female officers; when more of them get higher ranks, they inspire other young women to work harder and play their part in developing the country.”

Deliberate efforts to promote gender

Gasana said the Force has taken various initiatives to promote gender equality in the Police and to be part of peace building and development both home and on foreign missions.

Rwanda is currently among the leading contributors of women Police officers in peacekeeping missions, and is among the few countries that have elaborated the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 action plan.

The resolution urges all actors to increase the participation of women in conflict resolution, peacekeeping and incorporate gender perspectives in all UN peace and security efforts.

Rwanda’s Antoinette Umuraza was in October appointed the chairperson of the United Nations Police (UNPOL) Women Network under the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (Minusca).

Minister Gasinzigwa lauded Police for having a commendable number of women officers leading in various capacities, adding that the achievement is part of the government’s political will to attain sustainable development through gender equality.

"Gender promotion is a big step in the security and safety structures which were previously perceived to be a male domain. Our country’s policy has proven that women can make tangible contribution in all sectors of development,” she said.

Currently, 20 per cent of the total Police Force is composed of women and the Force is moving towards the 30 per cent minimum threshold.

The RNP also holds the ‘Police Women Convention’, annually, which brings together female Police officers to deliberate on issues affecting them in their day-to-day duties.