Some of the milestones achieved as a result of women empowerment in the last 20 years

As a result of Governance and legal framework, gender equality has been illustrated by the development of national frameworks and mechanisms including, the constitution, the Vision 2020, Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS), the National Gender Policy and Decentralisation Policy. The increased number of women in parliament since 2008 has played a key role in implementing and addressing gender issues in the above mentioned policies and programmes. For instance the bills tabled in Parliament in most cases may not have gender discriminatory clauses thanks to the number of women parliamentarians in the Lower chamber of Deputies. Rwandan women are empowered because the law is clear- women and men have equal rights and most of the laws and policies are aligned to this principle. The female dominated parliament shows Rwanda’s political will to empower women in all sectors. About 3,652 women own manufacturing businesses countrywide, according to a 2013 Gender Statistics Report conducted by National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda in collaboration with the Gender Monitoring Office and UN Women. The same report showed that Primary education female teachers constitute 51.6 per cent of the teaching staff. According to the 2011 report by the Gender Monitoring Office, 85per cent of heads of households which include 27per cent that are headed by women actively participate in agriculture. To some extent this could be as a result of the policy that gives women the same rights to inherit land as men. Rwanda’s economy is largely based on agriculture; its contribution to GDP varies from 30 per cent to 40 per cent thus many Rwandan women earn from the sector. The number of girls in Information Communications Technology (ICT) and other science fields is on the rise thanks to the numerous awareness campaigns and other programmes in the country. For example the Girls in ICT initiative which is meant to have a role in changing the mentality of girls and women who didn’t think they were up to task to be ICT literate. During the 2013 Transform Africa conference held in Kigali, ICT was recognised as an enabler of digital literacy campaigns involving women to have been key to achieve Millennium Development Goals on gender equality. Most of the above mentioned milestones were achieved as a result of setting up institutions such as the Gender Monitoring Office, the National Women Council that was set up as a result of Law n° 27/2003 of 18/08/2003 and the affirmative action that was designed to reserve 30 per cent of all positions, whether appointments or elective seats, to women in all decision making organs. This policy is aimed at encouraging women to walk out from the male shadow and make their presence felt. Gender Monitoring Office (GMO) is a government body set up by the 2005 amended constitution. It is responsible for monitoring the implementation of gender equality in all sectors across the country. The body is committed to ensuring that the principle of gender equity is upheld across the country and thus proving that in Rwanda gender equality is applicable and sustainable. GMO monitors gender issues through application of Participatory Gender Assessment (PGA) in institutions to determine whether gender equality is implemented. This monitoring helps to know if women and men have equal opportunities in accessing finance, education and other incentives.