The percentage of women in Rwanda’s Chamber of Deputies has risen from 61 percent to 63.8 percent, a list from the National Electoral Commission (NEC) has shown. This is the highest percentage of women representation in the parliament globally, a position the country has held for years now. One cannot say this comes as a surprise because after the 2003 Constitution that reserved a 30 percent quota for women in elected positions and political parties committing to voluntary quotas, women’s representation has been commendable. The numbers had risen tremendously from 23 percent in 2002 to 48.8 percent in 2003. During the following term that started in 2008, women’s representation increased to 56.4 percent, before making the all time high 64 percent in 2013, and a slight drop to 61 percent in 2018. ALSO READ: Number of women in Rwanda’s lower house of parliament rises to 63.8% Rwanda has made significant strides in other aspects, such as in education, access to finance, access to property, and more. Nevertheless, different spaces in the country have struggled to be gender balanced. As of March 2024, in district leadership, women made 30 percent of mayors, 15 percent of vice mayors in charge of economic affairs, and 46.1 percent of district councils. For Governors and Mayor of the City of Kigali, women made only 20 percent. In the private sector, only 38 percent of cooperatives in Rwanda were led by women. Perhaps it is time to borrow a leaf from the electoral quota to ensure that men and women are represented equally, not just in the parliament. Programs such as the Gender Equality Seal by the Gender Monitoring Office with partners could be adopted by every workplace in the country. ALSO READ: Private sector takes lead in championing gender equality in workplace The programme seeks to address six critical areas in the workplace which include; eliminating gender-based pay gaps, increasing women’s roles in decision-making, enhancing work-life balance, enhancing women’s and men’s access to non-traditional jobs, eradicating sexual harassment at work and using non-sexist communication. There is no doubt that if adopted and holistically applied with other best practices, gender parity would be a reality in all aspects of the country. It is our duty today to ensure that no one is excluded on the basis of their gender, disability, beliefs, and more. If anything, we are more powerful in our diversity.
