The Minister of Gender and Family Promotion in the Prime Minister’s office, Dr. Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya has called upon all gender policy activists in the country to uphold Rwanda’s achievements in the fight for gender equality.

She said this Tuesday while opening the national gender cluster steering committee meeting at Prime Holdings, Kimihurura.

Mujawamariya reminded participants that the fight for gender equality needs sustained efforts in order to avoid sharp contrasts when statistics are read.

"Let us not forget how women are presently suffering and those who have died,” she urged, referring to current national statistics which were mentioned during the recent launch of the White Ribbon Alliance-Rwanda Chapter.

It was stated that one in six deaths of women of reproductive age [15 to 44 years] is due to pregnancy-related problems.

The White Ribbon Alliance is an international organisation which raises awareness to improve maternal health.

The one-day meeting also applauded the recent good fortunes for women in the September Parliamentary elections where they took 45 out of the 80 seats available in the House.

Mujawamariya added that all efforts for gender activists in the country should focus on promoting zero tolerance for women dying in pregnancy or childbirth.

"Together, we can eradicate the widow status; it is preventable,” she rallied.

During the cluster, it was revealed that a five-year action plan for the promotion of women employment in the country was in the offing and that the centre for the promotion of small and medium scale enterprises in the country had trained 300 women on developing bankable projects.

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