Women’s presence is not enough

Many people erroneously view gender as ‘women’s presence’. Yet, the women’s presence is just the beginning, not the end point. For example, it is indeed a landmark that Rwanda has the highest number of women in the national parliament in the world – 56.3 per cent. It sounds politically correct, if you like. The question is: how can we prevent it being a missed opportunity to change the mindset that remains problematic in our communities where live? We need also to move more quickly away from policy formulations and press on to implementation of these policies that will impact on those men and women in rural places like Musha, Kabare in Rwamagana District, where women attend workshops and register their husbands’ names rather than their own on the attendance list. What story does this tell you? This means women still don’t see themselves as visible and worth the trouble, which is a critical mindset puzzle that needs to be correctly filled. In so doing, there is a need to understand what harbors this kind of mindset at all levels of society and then build appropriate awareness that is pegged onto demonstrating socio-economic costs and benefits in case of abandonment or acknowledgment of gender integration respectively. The way we package our messages should be done diligently in order to avoid shooting ourselves in the foot. We should not portray gender mainstreaming as favouring women over men in modern politics; we should instead draw attention to how household living can be better if income is equitably shared or efforts combined.These are not just women issues. These are family issues. These are economic issues.And one of the things that makes us grow as an economy is when everybody participates and women are getting the same fair deal as men are. It’s unfair to think that getting women around you is an accomplishment of gender integration. It’s more than that. Women do not need pampering. Women need equal access to skills and opportunities in order for them to compete in the world. Let us ask ourselves some questions. Do women and men have a fair deal at workplaces in regard to payments and decision-making? At a farmer’s cooperative, are women involved in decision-making? At households, are women consulted by their husbands? It would take us a double spread page of this newspaper to cover the questions in regard to the need of addressing gender gaps and inequalities at all levels in our society. Excruciatingly, there is still a tendency to incorporate women in decision making or workplaces out of sympathy because they are women. This is a gruesome mistake, folks! Women should not be included out of obligation, but instead their voices should be considered equally with those of men. I was intrigued by President Obama during the debate with Governor Romney when he said, “And I’ve got two daughters and I want to make sure that they have the same opportunities that anybody’s sons have.” Well, this might not be the ideal example to use in this argument because he would have no choice since he does not have a son. But he passes on an important message that fathers should treat their daughters and sons equally in terms of empowering them as import figures in their communities. We must increase awareness through which we can demonstrate to men and women especially in rural areas that providing equal education opportunities to their offspring regardless of whether it’s a boy or girl is the bedrock of their welfare improvement and economic growth. And this is not a complicated component to achieve because there is a sound commitment at a policy level and existing institutional frameworks on which we could piggy-back. Mainstreaming gender is not only important for women as it is mainly misconceived in our societies. It is, by far, of greater benefit to society as a whole, especially on the political and socio-economic outlook. For Rwanda, the equitable engagement of its daughters and sons is not a luxury, but rather a necessity, because the current official figures indicate that 53 per cent of the population is female.