Officials from the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), have teamed up with the labour ministry to discuss gender equality issues with various representatives of employers and employees.

The two-day workshop that took place in Kigali was aimed at contributing to the satisfactory participation and representation of women working for organisations and government institutions in social dialogue structures.

Held between May 18 and 19, the workshop also served as an opportunity for participants to discuss issues of balance between men and women as viewed by the labour organisation.

Participants hailed efforts by the government to increase women capacity and participation in the country’s development, but also called for more engagement of women.

"There is a political dynamism in Gender promotion, the way they govern institutions and other tasks they are offered in decision-making posts,” said Dominique Bicamumpaka, an activist for employees’ rights.

Bicamumpaka, who is also the president of the local syndicate that advocates for employees’ rights (COTRAF), added that the social status of women is one of the facts that affect their solid participation in extra curricular activities where people normally develop strong dedication ties to collective work.

He noted that it was unfortunate that women are seen mostly only in political or leadership positions, he encouraged them to aggressively venture into productive enterprises, as he believes they can perform better given capacity and commitment.

In Africa, the ILO is developing a social dialogue framework for national and sub-regional consultations which, according to them, will constitute an important tool of governance.

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