Mechanisms have been put in place to ensure the monthly stipend given to needy students at higher institutions of learning is disbursed on time to avoid any inconveniences, the Minister for Education has said.
Dr Papias Malimba Musafiri made the statement on Friday at University of Rwanda, Huye Campus, as he officiated at the closing ceremony of the induction week for freshmen.
The decision follows students’ complaints about the delays in disbursing of living allowances, with some saying the delays forced them to live on one meal per day and struggled to get academic materials they need.
The Rwf25,000 monthly stipend could delay for three to five months, students said.
{{Students’ concerns}}
Students have also expressed concerns over the new change in scholarship scheme, whereby the living allowances will be channeled to beneficiary accounts and the student will be paying directly for all the necessities.
This is different from the previous arrangement where the student could get meals from campus-based restaurant or accommodation in campus hostels and the payment would be deducted from the living allowances once disbursed.
This helped the needy students who depend on the allowances to meet their basic needs.
“We are being asked to pay for the accommodation and meals by ourselves. This could affect us in case of delays as has been the case. Under the old arrangement, we were at least assured of a meal and accommodation,” said Valentine Mukarushema, a first year student of Economics at Huye Campus.
{{Change of system}}
Students had suggested that the allowances be delivered on time or that some expenses like accommodation or meals be deducted from the allowances to facilitate the student’s learning in case they cannot get the money.
Musafiri assured the students that those entitled to the stipend will henceforth get it on time and there should not be any cause for concern.
He said effective this year, the allowance will be disbursed in two or three installments, unlike in the previous system where the money was disbursed on monthly basis.
“I would like to assure you that the money will be disbursed soon; there will not be delay like that which we have seen in the last years,” Musafiri said.
He said last week, a law allowing the Ministry of Education to put the bursary funds in the bank and the bank directly transfers the money to the students’ accounts was promulgated in the Official Gazette.
{{In defence of new system}}
Musafiri defended the decision to let students take care of all their subsistence needs, saying this was also good for their personal development as they will use it to nurture the culture of saving and taking care of themselves.
The minister urged those who are yet to open bank accounts to open them, noting that there are banking services in the campus.
The tuition and living allowances scheme for university students, which has been run by the Ministry of Education, were transferred to the Rwanda Development Bank effective the start of Academic Year 2015 this month.
At least 200 eye patients with eye cataracts selected from across the country are set to receive free eye treatment at Ruhengeri Hospital in Musanze District.
The weeklong operation, provided by Barraqueur Foundation, an international organisation whose goal is to provide eyecare to help improve visual health, started yesterday.
The move aims at finding long lasting solution for people who suffer from cataract and to reduce blindness which is mostly caused by the cataract, according to Dr Elena Barraquer, an ophthalmologist and leader of Barraquer Foundation.
The 200 beneficiaries were selected from the over 1,000 cataract patients who were initially screened.
“Our goal is to try to eradicate blindness caused by cataract, since this is the leading cause of blindness in the world. It’s something that can often be solved with a simple procedure that we can perform and that offers a huge improvement in the way people live,” Barraquer said.
She added that procedures rely on a novel technique called ‘phacoemulsification,’ which involves using ultrasound to break down the cataract and then aspirating it through a canula.
This invasive technique means that after a 20-minute procedure, the patient has a permanent intraocular lens and a new view of the world, she said.
Dr Barraquer said malnutrition and extreme exposure to sunlight are some of the causes of cataracts, whose only solution is surgery.
Dr David Muhire, the head of department of ophaltomology at Ruhengeri Hospital, said the weeklong surgery exercise and screening is of a great value to Rwandan health services since it is being conducted by specialists.
Patients were upbeat that they could regain their sight after a long time with the visual impairment.
Emmanuel Dusabe, from Kibagabaga in Gasabo District, could not believe how the removal of cataract could be free.
“I was thinking that cataract surgery operation is very expensive but now I can be operated on free of charge. I am happy because they are going to help me regain the sight I lost years ago,” Dusabe said.
Dusabe encouraged other people who have visual impairments to seek medical attention.
Similar operations were carried out by the same foundation last year, an exercise at which more than 200 eye patients regained their sight.
According to World Health Organisation, cataracts are responsible for 48 per cent of cases of blindness around the world and many countries still do not have medical resources needed to remove them.
Over 40 million people around the world suffer from curable blindness caused by cataracts.
The clinic was organised by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with Barraquer Foundation.
Members of the Rwanda Hotel Group (RHG), have urged financial institutions to give a grace period of at least a year to members who seek loans before they can start paying back.
RGH is an association that brings together owners of medium-sized hotels in the country.
But this seems to be a lost battle for members who have defaulted on bank loans as banks have placed auction notices in the media to sell off these hotels.
Several RHG members are now desperately trying to save their investments from being sold off cheaply to the highest bidder while banks are also doing their best to recover several billions of francs in non-performing loans (NPLs) held by these hotels.
Between hotels and banks is Private Sector Federation (PSF) which finds itself with an unattractive role of a mediator between disgruntled hoteliers and the banks.
“Hotels and banks are both our members and all we are trying to do is get them on the table to agree on an amicable way out because our interest as PSF is to ensure businesses succeed, not fail,” said Stephen Ruzibiza, PSF’s chief executive officer.
According to PSF, there are at least twenty distressed hotels trying to appeal against being auctioned off, not over one hundred as recently reported in the media.
Sylvester Mupenda, president of the RHG who talked to press in earlier interviews about the issue involving his hotel as well, declined to comment on the matter when contacted. When pressed further for a comment he said.
“We have not seen any effect, I don’t want to talk anymore.”
As the proprietor of Eldorado, one of the hotels listed for auction, Mupenda’s attitude is perhaps understandable; by talking to the press about his plight earlier, the distressed investor hoped to attract some attention to somehow halt, the auctioning of his hotel.
Apparently, the hotel was auctioned over two weeks ago.
Located on 27 KG Street, on 8th Avenue, just behind Rwanda Development Board, Eldorado employs 17 workers who had the same prayer as of last week, to be retained in their jobs by the new owner whom they were yet to meet.
The owner and hotel manager were both not on the premises at the time of visiting but according to a senior staffer, the investment is allegedly valued at over Rwf350 million (land and building).
However, it was auctioned off at just over Rwf200m to recover a loan of over Rwf260 million, apparently obtained from GroFin almost a decade ago to finance the investor to modify the place into a hotel from the apartment that it was previously.
But on Sunday, a source familiar with the transaction told The New Times that the takeover by the new owners had been halted after high level intervention although no details were immediately available to explain the development.
{{A troubled palace}}
Further deep in the city outskirts is Alpha-Palace, Kigali’s troubled palace, as it’s now quietly regarded; unlike the black couch with cracked leather covers at Eldorado, the reception area at Alpha which is listed as a three-star hotel, was much more respectable and cozy.
Lurched in one of the shiny cream leather seats was a young male Chinese guest speaking on the phone, rather loudly; the receptionist, Diana, with a calming smile, has been with the hotel for only a couple of months; she led me to the manager’s office.
“We are still in charge. The auction process was halted by court because there’s a disagreement on figures,” said the manager, a middle-aged man who has been with the hotel since 2012.
His room was a guest-suite turned into an office located on the first floor overlooking the swimming pool at the back of the hotel.
The least priced room at Alpha Palace which has over 46 rooms is US$70 a night; the hotel is three-star classified but that’s also the source of its current problems.
Alpha Palace which is valued at over Rwf2 billion is currently battling a consolidated credit facility of Rwf500 million from Bank of Kigali which was borrowed, according to the manager, to mainly upgrade its facilities ahead of RDB’s countrywide hotel classification exercise.
The hotel managed to get the stars but they haven’t translated into commercial success. “This endless story of us being auctioned has badly affected our performance, most of our clients have left us thinking someone else took over the facility,” he said.
Alex Baingana, the hotel’s proprietor has literally knocked on all doors in an attempt to save his lifetime investment from auction; he believes the bank is being unfair noting that selling off the property should be the very last resort after exploring all possible avenues.
But a source within Bank of Kigali intimated to The New Times that the hotel misused the credit and diverted it into other activities outside the planned spending.
However, the hotel blames its woes on what the manager describes as a dwindling clientele mainly because of tight competition from dozens of hotels that dominate its neighbourhood.
“Come and see what I am talking about,” he said as he guided me towards the balcony, pointing to the houses a few meters away from the hotel.
According to the manager, owners of most residential houses next to his hotel have turned them into motels which are stealthily diverting demand from Alpha Palace hotel hence contributing to its current financial woes.
The argument of stiff competition and reduced clientele is what most members of RHG will cite for their woes which they also blame on government for unfulfilled promises of a booming tourism sector that would generate incomes for these hotels.
{{Happy neigbours}}
But not everyone is complaining. For instance at Grand Legacy (GL), a newly established hotel directly opposite Alpha Palace, Christian Ndagijimana, the facility’s marketing manager says they have already become market leaders after just over a year in business.
Established just over a year ago, the 5-star classified hotel has 43 high-end rooms ranging between US$240 and US$420 for a night.
Ndagijimana says that within a short period of time, GL has become Kigali’s leading facility, based on statistics compiled by TripAdvisor, an American travel website providing reviews of travel-related content.
As to why smaller hotels like the one across the road are failing, the salesman says it’s because of a general lack of proper management, dysfunctional marketing strategies and lack of passion in what people do.
“So the way out for them is to really get proper management in place and get people who are passionate about the hotel business, you definitely don’t want someone who is just looking for a pay cheque at the end of the month,” he said.
But Ndagijimana also admits that getting top managers can be quite expensive for most hotels which want to run on low budgets.
{{So what’s the way out for struggling small hotels?}}
Although PSF’s advocacy can help to temporarily protect the hotels from the auctioneer’s hammer, perhaps a more realistic solution is with Celestin Rwabukumba, the CEO of the Rwanda Stock Exchange.
Rwabukumba says most companies, small or large, are struggling with a problem of being undercapitalised something he says can be addressed through raising money on the market; it worked well for Bank of Kigali, Bralirwa and most recently, Crystal telecom.
“It’s possible that up to 90 per cent of our businesses are undercapitalised. Many businesses start off wrongly with up to 80 per cent of their operating capital obtained from commercial banks and only a small section being their personal savings, that’s dangerous,” he said.
Jean Claunde Karayenzi, the Access Bank Rwanda managing director echoes similar views pointing out that businesses like hotels need longer term capital to allow them to borrow with longer repayment periods.
Recently, African Development Bank Group extended a $6 million line of credit to Access Bank to support Rwandan small and medium entrepreneurs; the credit line is long-term and will see borrowers enjoying friendly interest rates.
Rwabukumba says equity is not what one owns as some people wrongly perceive it, but rather the cash at hand because in practice, land can’t pay bills unless it’s liquidated into hard cash.
A platform has been created to enable small and medium enterprises like hotels to raise money from stock market and improve their capital bases.
“Unlike large companies that are required to have minimum capital requirements before listing on the stock market, the SME segment doesn’t require such conditionalities,” he said.
Surprisingly, the initiative is not new as it was approved about two years ago, but no SME has been able to debut although Rwabukumba revealed that at least four enterprises are in the process to pioneer the initiative.
The biggest challenge for SMEs, according to Rwabukumba is poor governance systems and accountability and that there’s a need to build their capacity to enable them access the market with confidence that investors’ money would be safe.
A United Nations-LED global campaign that seeks to engage men and boys in advocating for women and girls’ rights and empowerment was launched in Kigali, yesterday, with a call to all Rwandans to embrace it.
Dubbed “HeForShe”, the campaign is spearheaded by UN-Women and calls upon all men and boys in the world to sign on for it online and pledge to tackle barriers that prohibit women and girls from fully participating in their country’s socio-economic development.
Hundreds of top government officials, members of civil society organisations and representatives of international development partners working in Rwanda as well as local entrepreneurs, who gathered at Parliament Buildings in Kigali yesterday, pledged their allegiance to the HeForShe campaign.
The campaign, which can be joined on its web site, www.heforshe.org, is an international initiative aimed at mobilising everyone, especially men and youth, to create and increase awareness on gender equality, the fight against gender-based violence and promotion of ICT for all.
President Paul Kagame is one of the global champions of the campaign.
Rwanda has pledged that at least 100,000 Rwandan men and boys will sign up on the campaign, joining one billion men and boys worldwide who will be mobilised to commit to the campaign.
{{Crucial Rwandan value}}
Senate president Bernard Makuza, who was the guest of honour at the launch, called on all Rwandans to join President Kagame in supporting the initiative because respect for women’s rights has become a crucial Rwandan value.
“Raising awareness about the role of men in promoting the equality between men and women is important. Let’s make our President’s pledge to support gender equality our own,” Makuza said.
By signing up on the HeForShe campaign, people pledge that they are counted among “billions of men who believe equality for women is a basic human right that benefits us all” and “commit to taking action against gender discrimination and violence in order to build a more just and equal world.”
Some 461,625 men from across the world have joined the campaign while 2,692 men in Rwanda have signed on to the campaign, leaving activists with a task to keep mobilising more people to sign up.
“We are called upon to support the campaign because it’s for a good cause. We should join hands with our President to make the campaign a success,” said Jacqueline Kamanzi Masabo, the executive secretary of the National Women’s Council.
{{
Rwandan women in leadership}}
Rwanda has been at the forefront of promoting gender equality, with the 2014 World Economic Forum report ranking the country as Africa’s best performer in closing the gender gap, and the seventh out of 142 countries on the global index.
The country also keeps a record of highest representation of women in Parliament with Rwandan women occupying 64 per cent of seats.
But activists say the advancements in gender equality are not enough and under the HeForShe campaign Rwanda has pledged to bridge the gender digital divide and attain parity in ICT access by the year 2020, triple girls’ enrollment in technical and vocational training to advance women’s employment opportunities, and eradicate gender-based violence in all its forms.
“We would like to thank all boys and men in Rwanda who have played a role in empowering women and promoting their rights. We hope that every Rwandan will play their role in implementing the pledges we have made to bridge the gender gaps,” the minister for gender and family promotion, Oda Gasinzigwa, said at the launch of the HeForShe campaign yesterday.
The Government has applauded news of the successful testing of the first gas samples on the Kivu-Watt Methane Gas plant, a project on Lake Kivu expected to add some 25 megawats to the national electricity grid.
“This is a welcome development. It will add value to our energy mix,” said energy Minister James Musoni, in a brief text message to Saturday Times.
Testing of the gas was done Thursday night after the successful re-installation of the first of four pairs of separators and subsequent extraction of the first samples, according to Jarmo Gummerus, the country director of ContourGlobal.
Gummerus said in a phone interview yesterday that the second pair of separators will be installed by end of the month while full gas production and subsequent commissioning of the plant will take place before the end of October.
American energy firm ContourGlobal was given a 25-year concession to produce 100 megawatts from Lake Kivu, the world’s only methane rich water body, and the successful completion of the first phase will be received as a major boost to the investor.
The multi-million dollar project is only in its first phase which was used as a pilot study for engineers to gain experience since nothing of its kind had ever been done before.
“We had no luxury to copy and paste because everything here was being done for the first time, it’s a learning phase,” Gummerus said in a previous interview.
As a result, several deadlines in the past were never met, starting with one in 2012 as complications kept emerging.
It has taken engineers over three million man-hours to witness the first gas flare since works begun seven years ago, and they will now have the luxury of copying and pasting on the next phases of the project.
Gummerus believes works on the second, third and final phases of the venture will be accomplished much faster because of experience and lessons obtained from the first phase, which he described in an earlier interview as a ‘lake-breaking.’
Earlier this month, The New Times was granted access to the plant located on Lake Kivu in Karongi District and found engineers in a head scratching mood as they tried to fix last-minute technical malfunctions that had cropped up involving the ‘separators’.
The separators, long and wide metallic pipe drums weighing several hundred tonnes, separate gas from water before it’s processed into electricity.
But after sinking the first pair of separators into the lake, two months ago, it emerged that they were not functioning as expected and had to be reinstalled, a process that required flying in expert divers from South Africa and engineers from Germany.
The past few weeks have been spent troubleshooting; and the successful gas flaring exercise Thursday night means that the problems have finally been fixed and that the plant is nearly ready for fulltime production – a relief to both the investor and government.
“We should expect to have electricity from the plant to the national grid in mid-October,” Gummerus said.
When that happens, it will be an important milestone in Rwanda’s quest to conquer its energy inadequacy as pressure continues to mount from an ever-growing manufacturing base.
{{
Powering Rwanda}}
Rwanda is currently being powered by an installed energy capacity of 161.2 megawatts but the country’s target is to have 563 megawatts by 2018; the addition of 25 megawatts from KivuWatt next month will be a firm step towards that goal.
The country is also set to start importing another 30 or so megawatts from Kenya on a five-year long arrangement expected to start late this year, according to sources at the Rwanda Energy Group, the firm charged with electricity distribution.
Further on into the future, importation of another 400mw from Ethiopia will boost Rwanda’s energy capacity to adequately fuel a country whose economy is expected to attain double digit growth by 2018.
On the verge of an unprecedented world commitment to end extreme poverty and create a fairer, more sustainable planet, WaterAid Rwanda urges leaders to deliver on the new UN Global Goals and leave no one behind.
Global Goal 6 commits UN member-states to delivering basic access to water, sanitation and hygiene to everyone, everywhere by 2030. The inclusion of this goal is a victory for more than 650 million people in the world today without access to clean water and 2.3 billion people without access to safe, private toilets.
Maurice Kwizera, country representative of WaterAid Rwanda said:
“This is our chance to change the course of history and reach those who are most in need. Water, sanitation and hygiene are fundamental to development and by delivering these essential services, the lives of hundreds of millions of people will be transformed. It is possible, with the right political commitment, innovative thinking and funding.”
The 17 Global Goals on sustainable development aim to tackle extreme poverty, inequalities and climate change, including the water and sanitation crisis which kills half a million young children each year from preventable diarrhoeal diseases.
This crisis compromises the ability of children to attend school and adults to engage in income-generating work. And it affects women and girls most, as they are most often tasked with collecting water, at higher risk of illness or infection in the absence of safe water, basic toilets and good hygiene, and are made more vulnerable to attack if they must relieve themselves in the open.
In Rwanda, 23.9 per cent of households do not have access to clean water and 38.4 per cent do not have access to sanitation.
A recent report by WaterAid, Essential Element, has found that 45 low-income countries have been failed by the developed world on financing for water, sanitation and hygiene services. They are chronically underfunded and will not meet the UN goal without new political and financial prioritisation. Rwanda is among these 45 countries.
In most of these countries, half or more of the population do not have a basic, safe place to relieve themselves. This pollutes their water supply and general environment and leaves people at high risk of illness.
This ambitious goal to deliver water and sanitation to all is achievable, but requires political will and financing. Globally, WaterAid is calling on governments to:
• Deliver on their promise to achieve the new global goal on water, sanitation and hygiene to ensure everyone everywhere has these essentials by 2030;
• Ensure that there are indicators to monitor progress for access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in homes, schools and healthcare facilities;
• Ensure donor countries are meeting their commitments on foreign aid and giving sufficient priority to water, sanitation and hygiene programming; and
• Ensure developing countries are prioritising water, sanitation and hygiene programmes at home and to find new and effective ways of mobilising domestic resources.
WaterAid’s vision is of a world where everyone has access to safe water and sanitation. The international organisation works in 37 countries across Africa, Asia, Central America and the Pacific Region to transform lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in some of the world’s poorest communities. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 23 million people with safe water and, since 2004, 21 million people with sanitation. For more information you are advised to drop an email to warwanda@wateraid.org or visit www.wateraid.org. You can also follow @WaterAid or @WaterAidPress on Twitter, or visit WaterAid’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/wateraid.
The international Police Organisation (Interpol) has renewed commitment to working closely with Rwandan authorities in renewed effort to bring to book fugitives who are wanted for their role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The development follows a two day meeting that ended yesterday between officials from Interpol head office in Lyon, Rwanda Public Prosecution Authority (PPA) and Interpol Kigali.
The meeting focused on strategising new means to bring to justice Genocide fugitives who are roaming in different parts of the world.
In a news briefing after the meeting, Stefano Carvelli, the assistant director of Interpol Fugitive Investigative Support Sub-Directorate, said the meeting aimed at streamlining and enhancing strategies of bringing to justice perpetrators of the Genocide.
“Our meeting with the Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit and Interpol-Rwanda discussed mainly new operational factors and initiatives as means to intensify our hunt for Genocide perpetrators,” Carvelli said.
He added that part of what they discussed included the progress made in tracking Genocide fugitives, the challenges that were faced and how to adapt to different realities in order to have all suspects arrested.
Interpol Fugitive Investigative Support Sub-Directorate was established in 2004 to support Rwandan authorities and the international criminal mechanisms in the search for the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
John Bosco Siboyintore, the head of Genocide Tracking Unit at RPPA, hailed the cooperation with Interpol.
Irrespective of the fact that the perpetrators keep changing their identity to evade justice, Siboyintore said, Interpol has kept tabs on them and sometimes facilitates their arrest, extradition or deportation.
“We provide Interpol with details, including identities and locations of the perpetrators, but we still face challenges since there is lack of border controls in Europe, which facilitates the fugitives in their movements. Sometimes we indict a fugitive in one country and they easily move to another. Without Interpol facilitating the arrest of these people, we would be nowhere today,” Siboyintore said.
He also cited lack of cooperation from some Western countries to arrest fugitives among the challenges.
“We continue engaging these countries since Genocide is a crime against humanity and punishing it is not just a responsibility of Rwanda. The world bears responsibility to bring these people to justice. We are optimistic about bringing these people to justice,” he added.
Tony Kuramba, the head of Interpol National Central Bureau-Kigali, said since there are still many suspects at large, entities agreed to intensify their efforts to bring them to book.
Interpol has issued more than 200 red notices at the request of the Rwandan government over the year; of which about 40 have been honoured.
Interpol says the 40 arrests are considered a milestone going by the fact that it is “much more difficult tracking criminals of yesterday compared to modern-day fugitives.”
In July, last year, the US government recommitted to working closely with Rwanda, Interpol and a UN tribunal in renewed effort to bring to book the nine key suspects of the Genocide.
The top fugitives include Felicien Kabuga, the alleged chief financier of the Genocide; Protais Mpiranya, the former commandant of the notorious Presidential Guards, and former defence minister Augustin Bizimana.
The so-called ‘big fish’ have eluded justice for nearly two decades now.
Other prominent suspects on the run are Ladislas Ntaganzwa, Fulgence Kayishema, Pheneas Munyarugarama, Aloys Ndimbati, Charles Rwandikayo and Charles Sikubwabo.
T46 400m Final
1. H. C. Muvunyi (Rwa) 49:16
2. E. Ndimulunde (Nam) 49:52
3. K. J. L. Noumbo (CIV) 50:19
6. J. C. Ndayisenga (Rwa) 52: 88
Rwanda’s Paralympian Hermas Cliff Muvunyi made yet more history on Thursday evening, registering his personal best of 49:16 to retain gold in the Men’s T46 400m category at the 11th All Africa Games in the Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo.
Muvunyi, 27, also the reigning world champion in T46 800m, overcame stiff challenge from hopefuls Elias Ndimulunde (49:52) of Namibia, who claimed silver and Ivory Coast’s Jean Luc Kouame Noumbo who clocked 50:19 to take bronze.
Another Rwandan, Jean Claude Ndayisenga used 52:88 to finish last of the 6-runner race after Sacko Mahamane of Mali abandoned the race while Alex Anjos from Sao Tome and Principe was disqualified.
Muvunyi had qualified for the finals earlier on Thursday after he used 49:79 to top heat one table while compatriot Ndayisenga had finished second from heat two.
Muvunyi, won gold in 400m and silver in 800m at the 10th All Africa Games in 2011 in Maputo, Mozambique.
Rwanda today launches the national HeForShe campaign.
Initiated by UN Women as a global solidarity movement, “HeForShe” campaign is geared at engaging men and boys in tackling social and cultural barriers that prohibit women and girls from achieving their full potential.
The campaign challenges governments, corporate institutions and members of the academia to commit to end gender inequality in their areas of jurisdiction.
Today’s function will be launched at Parliament Buildings in Kigali, according to Darla Rudakubana, the communication and information advisor at the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion.
“The campaign will target all Rwandans, mainly men and women in public and private sectors,” Rudakubana told The New Times on Wednesday.
According to a concept note, the campaign aims at increasing awareness and strengthening support for gender equality and women’s empowerment as a human right, by enlisting men and encouraging them to continue putting themselves forward as advocates for gender equality.
Rwanda has been at the forefront of promoting gender equality, with the 2014 World Economic Forum report ranking the country as Africa’s best performer in closing the gender gap, and the seventh of 142 countries on the global index.
The campaign is considered an opportunity to appreciate the contribution of men and reinforce the importance of their role in promoting gender equality by encouraging their recommitment to further support the empowerment of women and girls, the ministry said.
Unlike in the past, it is believed that realising sustainable gender equality requires an inclusive strategy, where men and women are part of the effort.
‘Huge leaps’
In 2008, Rwanda became the first and only country in the world with a majority female representation in the Parliament at 56 per cent, and in 2013, women won 64 per cent of parliamentary seats.
Speaking to The New Times, yesterday, the chairperson of Rwanda Women Parliamentary Forum, Ignatienne Nyirarukundo, reflected on the recent gains in gender equality.
“Rwanda has made huge leaps in promoting gender balance, where Members of Parliament are seen as an example. Women have taken up many leadership positions, a sign that gender inequality is steadily fading,” Nyirarukundo said.
The campaign has also involved men and boys, by mobilising them as agents for change in ending the inequalities faced by women.
“Although the movement was originally viewed as a struggle only meant for women, men have also contributed by pledging their support in fighting against the inequalities and discrimination faced by women,” Nyirarukundo added.
Creating impact
Meanwhile, the campaign further aims to create impact by driving change from the highest levels of government, private sector and academia through identifying ‘impact champions’ within these sectors.
This will be achieved through a programme termed “Impact 10x10x10”.
When it was announced in June, 10 heads of state, 10 heads of corporations and 10 heads of varsities were selected as ‘impact champions’ to take on global outreach and advocacy for the ‘Impact 10x10x10’ programme.
In June, President Kagame joined UN Women’s HeForShe solidarity movement as an Impact 10x10x10 champion, making Rwanda one of the ten countries around the world committing to take bold, game-changing action to achieve gender equality within and beyond their countries.
Each global champion made ambitious, impactful and realistic commitments to end gender inequality by focusing on three key priority areas of their economies in which gender gaps remain significant.
It was in this perspective that Rwanda chose three priority areas from which the country’s commitments were drawn.
These include bridging the gender digital divide in ICT and attaining parity in access and usage, enhancing girls’ enrolment in Technical and Vocational Education and Training to boost their employability and eradicating gender-based violence.
Oda Gasinzigwa, the minister for gender and family promotion, in a previous interview with this newspaper, said empowering women is empowering a nation, especially in Rwanda, where women constitute 52 per cent of the population, adding that once women are fully empowered, the overall development of the country will be significant.
“A lot has been achieved in empowering women in Rwanda but in a research we conducted, we established that there is still a gap in certain areas such as ICT where uptake of women is still low,” she said.
Constitutional review commissioners were sworn-in yesterday and immediately set the agenda of their four-month scrutiny of the supreme law in line with public demands to have the Constitution amended.
The seven independent legal experts, responsible to Parliament, are, among others, tasked with technically supporting lawmakers in the drive to amend some articles in the Constitution, including Article 101 that stipulates two seven-year term for the presidency.
Shortly after taking oath before the Supreme Court, commissioners were called to Parliament for briefing on their duties, where they received relevant documents and facilities from respective authorities.
Speaker Donatille Mukabalisa told members of the commission that duties ahead were a genuine cause initiated by members of the public and deserve greater attention and expedition.
“These are people’s will expressed in different ways; there are petitioners amounting to 3.7 million, field visits reports tabled after consultations from all 416 sectors of the country and other relevant materials showcasing people’s voices towards the change of the law,” she said.
“Having seen the urgency, we have agreed that any other matter arising with respect to the law is subject to change, a cause where your expertise is mostly needed to adjust the Constitution accordingly.”
{{Working with Parliament
}}
The Speaker said the commissioners will work closely with the council of parliamentary commission chairpersons on a day-to-day basis with the full support of Parliament.
The seven commissioners are expected to review the law, examining clauses that might be deemed too outdated such as Gacaca jurisdiction and/or those that require updates and adjustments.
Explaining further on the role of the members of the ad-hoc committee with a four-month renewable tenure, Senate President Bernard Makuza said following previous debates on the change of the constitution, their technical expertise will consolidate views in a professional manner.
“In line with article 101 of the constitution, people have clearly expressed how they want it, but there are many other articles that require more discussions and ideas from you, which will lead us to a readable law with substance,” he said.
Makuza also handed over 15 reports compiled by Senate, documentary films, Senate resolutions and the organic law governing the functions of the Senate to help commissioners attend to their endeavors and mandate.
The commissioners were provided with fully furnished offices at the parliamentary premises and will be entitled to benefits and remunerations of all commissioners as provided for by the law.
Although the four-month-period can be extended through a presidential order, Augustin Iyamuremye, the chairperson of the Constitutional Review Commission, said delivering within the given timeline is a priority.
He urged his team to take up the challenge and deliver accordingly.
“After swearing in, we assessed ourselves and agreed to serve as a supporting committee to Parliament.
However, we are also messengers of the public who called for this action. The tasks at hand are not easy, but God will help us. We don’t need to ask for more time to complete our work, we have no excuse for failure to deliver,” Iyamuremye said.
The commission chaiperson believes his core role would be to coordinate efforts and activities of his team and says he will make sure citizens’ views are heard, captured and incorporated in the upcoming new Constitution.
