Last month, the World Economic Forum released its 2016 Global Gender Gap report ranking Rwanda the first country in Africa, and fifth globally, out of 142 countries, where women and men get relatively equal pay for a similar job.

It also showed that Rwanda has more women than men in the labour force.

Faustin Mwambari, the Director of Labour Research and Employment Promotion at the Ministry of Public Service and Labour (MIFOTRA), says the report was spot on as Rwanda has made great strides in ensuring that women are treated equally in the workplace as their male colleagues.

Rwanda crossed the threshold of closing 80 per cent of its gender gap to break into the top five for the first time since entering the Index. According to the report, this is mostly due to improvements on its Economic Participation and Opportunity sub index score, where the country moved up six spots over last year on the back of improved parity in the estimated earned income. It remains the country with the highest share of female parliamentarians in the world, 64 per cent, and maintains its respective score on the Political Empowerment sub index despite dropping a spot to 8th. 

Rwanda continues to be the region’s top performer, and the only country from the region ranked in the global top ten, marking progress this year in closing the gender gap on tertiary enrollment and estimated earned income while slipping on the more basic literacy rate gender gap.

"Equality in the workplace cannot be achieved overnight, it is a continuous process, and I think Rwanda has made very commendable gains in that regard,” Mwambari says.

However, for gender activist Shamsi Kazimbaya, the privileges that men and women get at work, cannot be the same since men and women have different gender roles.

According to Kazimbaya, while women have made a lot of progress in the workplace, certain differences in male and female attitudes still exist that drive a wedge between feminine and masculine roles.

"Men have been privileged in the workplace for centuries. Even though we have a law in place, some places do not apply to it because in most workplaces, they do not offer privileges to the women,” she said, adding that a lot more needs to be done to really achieve equal pay between both genders.

"There is effort to continue making progress but we are not yet there. For example, many organisations do not grant women the time and privacy to breastfeed,” she says.

Mwambari argues that since men and women have equal competences and equal performance rates, there is no reason why they should not be given equal benefits in the workplace.

"The current situation shows that both men and women have equal competences in different areas, including leadership, politics, management and technical areas. It is just a matter of equipping them with the skills equally from the beginning,” Mwambari says.

Do we have equal pay?

Kamariza, a copywriter at an advertising company in Kigali, was not amused when she found out that the copywriter before her, who happened to be male, earned about Rwf200, 000 more than she was getting.

"I found out through a colleague and I didn’t understand it. Why were they paying me less? The funny thing is I had my degree in Mass Communication, and he had a diploma in something I do not even remember. I had worked as a copywriter before, my CV was impressive. But why they chose to pay me less was beyond me,” she says.

"Two years of working with them, I asked for a pay rise, something I suspect a male colleague would probably get quicker and they are yet to approve it. I guess that is just the way it is,” she says with frustration.

The Constitution promotes the principle of equal pay by stating that persons with the same competence and ability have a right to equal pay for equal work, without any form of discrimination.

And, according to Article 12 of the Labour Code, the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value between workers applies without any discrimination on the basis of origin, sex, colour, race, marital status, and etcetera.

Why gender roles must be considered

27-year-old Shanita (not real name) is an IT specialist. However, she tends to fall sick every time her menstrual cycle sets in, and this requires her to take medication and enough rest.

Luckily for her, her employers understand her situation and she is, therefore, allowed to work from home to enable her take proper rest.

Such, and many more challenges, such as use of bathrooms more often and for longer periods of time, that many women face at work, tend to affect women in the workplace.

Yet they have to deliver equally.

Nonetheless, Teta Mbabazi, a human resource manager at telecom firm Tigo, says women should not be denied their feminine needs and should, therefore, be given the privileges befitting them – in terms of facilities and flexibility.

"Women and men should be treated equally in terms of remuneration. It’s also important for employers to acknowledge that women have roles in the home and it is only fair to grant them more time to attend to their children. They cannot have the same working hours with their male counterparts,” she says.

She adds: "Women should have more privileges in terms of flexible in working hours by nature and we cannot deny our functionality because it is a fact. Some organisations have a day care centre which is a good way of enabling women to work more efficiently by tending to their babies while at work, rather than staying home.”

Bosco Murangira, the Director of Women Empowerment, at the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, believes that the existing policy and other legal instruments provide equal opportunities in the workplace, but its time they also catered for the differences in gender roles.

"Experience has indicated that women have tended to excel in assignments tasked to them in all domains and fields in government, civil society and the private sector. The current and existing policy and legal instruments in place provide equal opportunities for both men and women.”

"However, there is need to address specific gender needs. Women have additional roles and are preoccupied by the unpaid care work, and providing and caring for the future labour force. All these must be treated with special consideration,” he says.

The maternity law in Rwanda requires that during the first six weeks of a mother’s maternity leave, a mother has the right to her full salary, but is obliged to return to work or get only 20 per cent of her salary in case she chooses to stay home for the remaining six weeks of her maternity leave.

Immy Kalema Mulekatete, a public relations officer at Legacy Brands, believes that this law allows women enough time with their newborn babies but they should be treated equally.

She says women need to be fully empowered but rejects the idea to favour women over men in the workplace, even as women have extra specific responsibilities given their gender.

"Treating women equally is based on the recognition that we are as capable as men, but there shouldn’t a situation where women actually get favoured over men in terms of privileges just because they are women, that makes them vulnerable,” she says.

Mulekatete adds: "We shouldn’t be marginalised but again we should not expect to get more opportunities than men have. All that women need is to be given an opportunity to earn their positions and rank – just like men,” she says.

Meanwhile, Kazimbaya says there is need to revise upwards the number of days that a new father gets in paternity leave, to ensure that the man too contributes to looking after the newborn.

"When a woman gives birth, she struggles with the baby singlehandedly because the law provides for only four days in paternity leave, these are some of the issues that we can fix and, as a result, empower the Rwandan woman more,” Kazimbaya says.

Kazimbaya also calls on employers to put in place internal gender policies that guarantee equal privileges to both men and women, while at the same time catering for specific roles for each gender.

The way forward

According to Africain Biraboneye, the Deputy Secretary General of Trade Union Centre of Workers of Rwanda (CESTRAR), "Rwanda might be leading in terms of political leadership and equal pay but some areas still need to be tackled, especially in the private sector. Some organisations are still hesitant to recruit female workers because they feel they might not deliver as much as men. The private sector needs to do more advocacy because it is still lagging behind. CESTRAR is also pushing for at least 15 days for paternity leave to be able to grant men more time for their families and reduce on the burden placed on women at birth because we feel the current paternity law is unfair to the working mother.”

The Private Sector Federation too says more needs to be done to achieve gender equality in the workplace.

"Even if Rwanda is being ranked the top, it does not mean that we have completely closed the gap in terms of equal pay or completely eliminated unfair treatment in the workplace. It is a process and the Private Sector Federation is advocating for closure of the gap. I am however grateful that we are moving at a fast pace to ensure that the gap is closed and Rwandans are fully collaborative,” says Eugenie Mushimiyimana, the president of the Chamber Of Women Private Sector Federation.

What’s your take on equal privileges in the work place?

Indeed they should be given equal privileges if they are handling similar responsibilities. More or less would be a sign of inequality, and as people who are promoting gender balance, encouraging equality in the workplace is the right thing to do.

Phiona Munezero, business student

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If the gender equality we talk about every day is to be a success, there shouldn’t be a question of whether women should be given equal privileges as men. I believe women in workplaces do their best to make most of their careers, as such, equal privileges with men shouldn’t be a matter of debate but merit on the work done.

Christine Mutesi, business woman

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Unlike before where one in a thousand women had the ability to climb the career ladder, today’s women are more passionate, ambitions and hardworking, and most importantly, women have the ability to perform their duties the same way as men or even better. In an environment like this, equal privileges is the right thing to do in any workplace.

Fiona Kamikazi, fashion designer

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I believe hardworking women need to be given credit where it’s due. And even the ones who might not be as qualified deserve their rightful privileges. It is very important that both are evaluated and given privileges according to performance, ability and skills.

Fidela Mutoni, banker