The International conference on the Role of Security Forces in Ending Gender Based Violence (GBV) against Women gets underway, in Kigali, tomorrow.

The two-day conference organized by the Rwanda National Police (RNP) in collaboration with the Rwanda Defence Forces’ (RDF) gender desk and supported by Rwanda UN family will bring together high profile government policy makers, police chiefs and other senior managers from the army and police forces of 22 African countries, particularly from Central and East Africa and Haiti.

It will also be attended by UN agencies, members of civil society organizations, international, regional and local media practitioners involved in advocacy programmes for ending violence against women from both within and outside Africa.

Rwanda was chosen by the UN as hosts following the measures initiated to combat the crime such as opening up a gender desk in the police and army, Gender Monitoring Office (GMO) among others, all of which have joined hands to bring down GBV crimes by over 60 percent in the last six years.

The conference is organized in the framework of the UN Secretary General’s global campaign dubbed "Say No – UNITE to End Violence against Women” (2008-2015) launched on February 25, 2008.

It is also organized in the spirit of the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325/2000 aimed at protecting women and girls during and after armed conflicts and to fully involve females in conflict prevention, management and resolution, peace building and reconciliation.

Rwanda is among the few countries that have so far implemented the UN resolution.

Inspector of Police, Belline Mukamana, who heads the Gender Desk in police, said that the conference will help them acquire further ideas on how GBV can be uprooted in the country.

"Though we will show the world our achievements, but we will also get additional ideas to deal with the crime in our country,” she said.

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