Despite Rwanda’s international acclaim to gender equality promotion, men continue to have a bigger presence in local governments, a status attributed to historical misconceptions and women lack of confidence in political affairs and cultural history, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF), Umulisa Henriette has said.
Rwanda is ranked among the world’s top states with female legislators, standing at 64%.
In the process of allocating leadership positions at district and sector levels, some seats are likely to be reserved for men or women where most district mayors are men while most social affairs positions are held by women.
For instance, among the 30 districts in Rwanda, only three women are mayors, 23 deputy mayors in charge of social affairs and five women hold the position of district officials for economic affairs.
The MIGEPROF permanent secretary says the gap results from women lack of confidence in political affairs.
“Women are reluctant to compete for some positions in local administration that can be linked to lack of confidence. There is still a challenge of misconception, founded in historical and cultural misconstrued perception that subjugates women. However; the situation is changing overtime since we introduced policies mobilizing women to participate in decision making positions,” she said.
Umulisa added that there is apparent change in many of the ill-placed ideas about women reinforced by top political will and therefore called on women to participate and compete for local government leadership during 2016 elections.
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