Beauty contests can be an important focus of national or regional pride. On an individual level, they give young women an opportunity to enrich not only their own lives, but the lives of others. Pageants provide the perfect opportunity for some of the most beautiful young women to fulfil their ambitions and develop themselves as human beings.When beauty pageants began, they were viewed as trivial events whose interpretation required no intellectual effort. In fact, many critics of beauty contests argue that such contests reinforce the idea that girls and women should be valued primarily for their physical appearance, and that this puts tremendous pressure on young women to conform to conventional beauty standards by spending time and money on fashion, cosmetics, hair styling et cetera.Lauren Thecle Makuza, the Director of Culture Promotion at the Ministry of Sports and Culture, says people’s perception on beauty pageants has changed. "Today the public is very supportive because they understand that beauty contests help promote young Rwandan women both intellectually and aesthetically,” Makuza said."The idea that a Beauty Queen is just for show and only judged by her exterior beauty is certainly not relevant in the search for Miss Rwanda. We consider the full package which includes among other attributes, inner strength and maturity to take on the role and be able to interact with people on all levels of social standing,” Makuza explained.Although the Miss Rwanda crown comes with lots of advantages, the winner of the crown is expected to work on a number of projects, like supporting the disabled and different groups of the disadvantaged members of the Rwandan society.The winner is required to follow a clear program such as participating in different social and cultural events, either in the country or abroad as well as participate in international beauty contests including Miss Africa and Miss World.Also during her reign, Miss Rwanda is expected to travel around Rwanda as well as across the world as an ambassador for her country. She has a duty to uplift her country and act as a role model for all Rwandan citizens.