Last week, a group of Ugandan parliamentarians was in Rwanda, and among the institutions they visited was the Gender Monitoring Office. The guests were taken through the various steps the country has taken to ensure equal access and opportunity for both sexes, making Rwanda one of the best countries to be born a girl.In Rwanda, the majority of parliamentarians are women and they also hold various leadership positions in other decision-making organs. While men still dominate the corporate business world, there are signs that this is changing with more young women opting for entrepreneurship instead of salaried jobs, and with more females now owning land.In the public sector, a lot has been done. But, until recently, the responsibility to translate gender sensitive policies into practice had remained a reserve for few institutions. Most gender mainstreaming responsibilities fell on the shoulders of the Ministry of Gender and Family Planning.Nonetheless, with more institutions now keen to ensure that all public institutions fully integrate gender in their strategies and planned activities, the playing field is poised to truly reflect gender equality.For instance, it is commendable that the Gender Monitoring Office now works directly with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning as well as Parliament to ensure that budgets for all government institutions are gender sensitive.By engendering budgets, gender equality policies will further be translated into real action – thus truly empowering the Rwandan women.
