Canal Plus Rwanda has committed to enhancing its interventions in women sexual reproductive health and economic empowerment as it positions itself as a life-changing entity.

The development is contained in an MoU signed between the content distributor and Empower Rwanda on Thursday, September 2.

Empower Rwanda is a local civil society that advocates for the rights of women and girls.

The civil society organisation will partner with Canal Plus Rwanda in implementing the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitment.

Since arriving in Rwanda, one year ago, this is the first corporate social responsibility of Canal Plus Rwanda.

"One year ago, when we arrived here, we did not have a target of distributing the content and registering profits only, but we also wanted to make a change down there in the society and impact the local population as well,” commented Sophie Tchatchoua, the Managing Director of Canal Plus Rwanda.

Tchatchou also explains the birth of this initiative: "A number of female staff at Canal Plus sat down and started recounting our own stories and how we got where we are today. We then realized that women face challenges along their development journey, and decided to be the change-makers starting from Rwanda,” she recounts.

Women are also the foundation of mankind, Tchatchou continues, we all come from women, without a woman, there would be no life, that is to say, if we want development in Africa, we need to invest in women, we need to give them the floor and opportunities to develop their potential.

"So, that is why empowering women is in our DNA as Canal Plus,” said Tchatchou.

She also adds that these challenges that women face hinder their education opportunities: "Women are impregnated by boys and drop out to take care of their babies, but boys stay schooling and graduate, so women are left behind in that way,” she observed.

According to the MoU, Canal Plus will support Empower Rwanda throughout its activities to fight teenage pregnancy and gender based violence and improve comprehensive sexuality education in schools.

So far, the content distributor has supported the civil society with furniture.

Going forward, the two institutions are set to cooperate in upcoming activities notably in November 2021. They will spend these two months designing projects.

Olivia Kabatesi, the founder of Empower Rwanda commended the efforts of Canal Plus Rwanda for giving back to the community.

"We are glad to have Canal Plus Rwanda as our partners. We thank them for accepting to partner and become the voice of the voiceless women out there, who are economically crippled and victims of gender-based violence among other range of issues,” she said.

Canal Plus is an international content distributor operating in 25 African countries.

It is best known for sports, but its 200 channels also include movies, documentaries, and soap operas among other exciting programmes.

Currently, the broadcasting company is airing Afro basket league, other European popular leagues and clients are undergoing a discount and lottery game.

Empower Rwanda Country Director, Olivia Promise Kabatesi addressing the media.

Group photo of Canal Plus and Empower Rwanda representatives at the signing ceremony.

Sophie Tchachoua, Managing Director of Canal Plus Rwanda.