Parliament should do more to monitor the implementation of the country’s policies to ensure that women are better economically empowered if gender parity is to be attained, experts and activists have said.

The message was delivered yesterday in the House during a consultative meeting about how to empower women in line with Rwanda’s and global aspirations to reach gender equality by 2030.

"We need your help in terms of oversight. We have good policies for gender equality in the country but their implementation at the grassroots level is often unsuccessful because of poor understanding,” said Henriette Umulisa, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion.

Umulisa told lawmakers that gender parity in the country remains a challenge mainly because women are still faced with poverty, financial exclusion, lower employable skills, gender-based violence, and unpaid work to care for their families among other issues.

"We essentially need gender mainstreaming strategies for every policy in the country,” Umulisa said.

The Chief Gender Monitor, Rose Rwabuhihi, agreed with Umulisa that there are good policies in the country that would help to bridge inequality between men and women but are sadly not well implemented.

Citing the example of women who are still denied their right to inherit land from their parents even if the law allows it, Rwabuhihi said a closer monitoring of how the country’s good policies on gender equality are implemented at the grassroots is needed.

"We have good laws but the way they are implemented at the grassroots in different communities is still a challenge. We need to adjust our strategy to financially include women,” she said.

The discussions in Parliament were organised by the Forum of Rwanda Women Parliamentarians – better known by its French acronym FFRP – in line with the International Women’s Day, marked globally on March 8.

At the meeting, views were exchanged about the achievements and required actions to advance and sustain gender equality and women’s empowerment in line with global Sustainable Development Goals and agenda 2030, which have targeted to achieve equal opportunities between men and women.

‘More efforts needed’

Although Rwanda has made great strides in women empowerment, experts admitted that more was still needed to empower women economically.

"We still have a long way to go. The world out there may think that we are doing well in Rwanda, but given where we want to be, we still have a long way to go. For instance, we don’t think any single woman deserves to live in poverty,” said MP Ignacienne Nyirarukundo, the president of FFRP.

MP Théoneste Begumisa Safari recommended that the issue of gender equality be brought to the attention of local leaders so they can help in the faster implementation of the country’s policies on gender equality.

"We need to train new local officials on the topics of gender equality,” he advised.

Legislators resolved to keep their attention on the issue of gender equality, especially through constant discussions held by members of FFRP.

"It’s important for us all to work together to respond to the challenges facing women. Today’s meeting has provided orientation for the next FFRP general assembly due March 18,” Senate vice-president Jeanne d’Arc Gakuba said.

Apart from discussions on the importance of women’s economic empowerment as a priority for sustaining gender equality, the meeting also sought to help MPs identify challenges hindering progress toward gender equality and how to address them.

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