Did you know that women’s representation in decision-making positions makes Rwanda the world leader? In fact, in 2018, 62% of Rwanda’s Members of Parliament were women. Or that the Rwandan women’s labour force participation rate is one of the highest in the world, at 86%? Or that gender parity has been achieved at the primary and secondary schools levels, as 85% of girls and 84% of boys attend and are enrolled in school? Despite these great achievements, challenges still persist. For instance, teenage pregnancy rates have increased in Rwanda from 6.1% in 2010 to 7.3% in 2015 (according to the 2014-15 Rwanda Demographic Health Survey). We therefore still have a ways to go to ensure that girls and women can fulfill their potential and take advantage of opportunities around them. These issues strike a personal chord for me. As a young Rwanda woman, I can relate to the experiences that girls and women face. Such as struggling to balance obligations at home while continuing to pursue opportunities in school and in a career. It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s built a passion. I want to channel these lived experiences into work that helps younger sisters feel empowered to stay in school, to contribute to their communities, and to take advantage of opportunities around them. I first became passionate about this work during my role as a Brand Ambassador for Girl Effect Rwanda. While in school, I was trained as a Brand Ambassador to distribute copies of Girl Effect’s magazine. The magazine covers information aimed at sparking behaviour change in areas affecting girls, including their health (especially sexual and reproductive health), income-generating opportunities and education. I was assigned to bring the magazine back to girls in my community and district. And while there, I led and took part in activities and discussions with girls to ensure they understood how these messages had real implications in their lives. When I had the chance to eventually work at Girl Effect full-time in Kigali in 2017, I jumped on the occasion. I still remember what I felt when I received that message from my manager. I was so happy to get this opportunity to fully embed myself in this work and to learn from other specialists who worked in this same domain. Currently, I am the Manager of Strategy for Girl Effect Rwanda. In this role, I lead the social behavior change communications, where I brief our creative team to inform and help them with creating our content. I also ensure we design programs that respond to donor and audience needs. What I enjoy most in this work is the enthusiasm that everyone has towards empowering girls, the collaboration that the team shows, and the creativity shown in designing programs that suit the audience of girls and young women. Since starting, I have also learned so much about what it takes to promote opportunities for girls and young women. What stands out most to me is the importance of co-creation. When designing programs, it is so important that girls and young women are placed at the centre. We must engage them, listen to their needs, and ask for their feedback to make sure that we can design programs and initiatives that are relevant to them and are successful. Moving forward, girls and women still face many challenges. More work needs to be done to address these. To do this, we need to come together as individuals and from across disciplines to lift up girls and women and ensure they’re not left behind. We can’t afford not to, otherwise we won’t unlock the potential of women and girls, and we, therefore, won’t see and experience all of the impacts they can bring to our communities and future economy. We all have a role to play in creating this future. I challenge each of you to ask yourselves, What is my role in promoting the health and well-being of my sisters, my mothers, daughters, friends and children? Think about what actions you can take. To get started, ask yourself: Is there an area in my work where I can promote more opportunities for women or girls? If I’m involved in work that aims to directly impact girls and/or women, how can I ensure that I’m co-creating and co-designing projects with them, rather than ‘for them’ or ‘on their behalf’? Who in my network can I speak with to learn more? We’re moving forward in the right direction in Rwanda. But we must continue to work together to make sure that we create even more progress. The work is not yet done. The author is Manager of Strategy at Girl Effect Rwanda. The views expressed in this article are of the author.
