First Lady Jeannette Kagame has called for ways to ensure that the gender-friendly policies put in place by the government will sink into the lower parts of society. She made the remarks on Women’s Day, March 8, while speaking at the Motsepe Foundation’s annual Gender Equality, Wellness and Leadership (GEWAL) summit. She highlighted to her audience a number of achievements that Rwanda has registered towards gender equality. Among these, the country stands out for having the highest female representation in parliament, with 61.3 per cent of in the lower house. This is an addition to a 53.3 per cent representation of women in the Cabinet. “Rwanda’s values and expectations for women have changed in a generation, as more of them have entered the government’s ranks. Their impact has been inspirational, in addition to shaping laws and policies,” she said. “They bravely stepped in to fill the leadership void. And aided by women’s civil society groups, lawmakers have introduced some of the most women-friendly policies in the world,” she added. However, she noted that despite these significant achievements, “changing conservative mindsets is not something that happens overnight, and that gender relations within families, do not always change at the same pace, as government policies. “We must therefore ask ourselves what should be the next step towards gender evolution in our private spheres? How must we engage men and boys in instilling gender principles from a young age? How must parents, teachers and community leaders tackle gender norms standing in the way of real change within our families and society at large?” she said. “Connecting dots will help us to see these frameworks, policies, law and enforcement mechanism effectively transform our homes to totally free ourselves from all these imbalances” she added. Besides, Mrs. Kagame also talked about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women and girls, as well as society at large. She noted that the pandemic has brought with it unprecedented challenges, and that its initial consequences have had a repo effect on all social-economic sectors and has threatened to bring nations and communities to a standstill. “Women and girls unsurprisingly have been affected the most. They are more at risk of infection, given their roles as caregivers not only within their families but also as frontline healthcare workers,” she said. “One year into the Covid-19 crisis, we take a moment to point to both the disproportionate burdens that women and girls carry and the centrality of their contributions; and for this, mitigation measures would need to include a comprehensive and culturally sensitive approach that integrates challenges of employment, childcare and education,” she added. She encouraged women and girls to continue working hard especially during times of pandemic, to challenge the status quo, as she called upon men to support them in the efforts “To the sons, brothers and husbands, we count on you to adhere to the ‘he for she’ principles and walk the journey with us to level the playing field and effectively bridge the road to recovery,” she said.
