Women play a key role in rebuilding Rwanda after the genocide
Women have played a pivotal role in reconstructing Rwanda since the 1994 genocide and international peace experts say their leadership has been critical to recovery of a nation that lost one-tenth of its population in 100 days. Women have been prominent in and outside the government, and recently were elected to fill nearly half the seats in the lower house of Parliament.
After the bloodshed stopped in June 1994, women and girls represented 70 percent of Rwanda 's population, said Elizabeth Powley, author of "Strengthening Governance: The Role of Women in Rwanda 's Transition," a study released by Women Waging Peace, of Cambridge, Mass. The perception among survivors of both sexes, she said, was that women were better than men at forgiving, reconciling and building peace.
Women immediately began finding homes for orphans, caring for survivors and rebuilding homes. Women whose relatives perpetrated genocide teamed up with women whose families were victimized, said Louise Mushikiwabo, a Rwanda native who works for the International Monetary Fund in Washington.
Male political leaders supported the involvement of women and other groups excluded in the past, such as youth. Women headed major institutions set up to rebuild the country and prosecute the killers. "Rwandans believe that, in their victimization and endurance, women bore the brunt of the genocide and therefore deserve a significant and official role in the nation's recovery," Powley’s report said. Added Mushikiwabo: "Men have, in a way, given a chance to women to prove they can do a job."
Women also emerged as private sector leaders, particularly in fields where they had been almost invisible before, such as banking, Mushikiwabo said. "They have become cab drivers, they have become mechanics, they have become Cabinet members."
Rwanda's new constitution set aside 24 of 80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Parliament, for women. Following October elections, in which they competed against men to win 15 additional seats, 39 women took their places in the chamber. They now hold nearly 49 percent of the seats, more than in any other parliament worldwide, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union which says Rwanda "has come the closest to reaching parity between men and women of any national parliament," replacing long-time champion Sweden.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union, which advised Rwandans on how to write a "gender-sensitive" constitution, also reported that women hold six of 20 Senate seats, or 30 percent. "No other country is doing what Rwanda is doing to bring women into the political process," Powley said. While the outgoing Parliament, formed before the new election laws took effect this year, included fewer women, it did repealed a number of laws that were unfair to women, including a ban on inheriting property.
Adapted from an article entitled Women Take Lead in Reconstruction of Rwanda, by Jodi Enda of Women’s E-News, posted November 16, 2003. Used with permission.
UPDATE
(April 2008) The three-year Rwanda Project being carried out by the Hunt Alternatives Fund as part of its Initiative on Inclusive Security has been exploring the impact of women's unprecedented political gains in Rwanda. The project shows "that women leaders: drafted the only substantive bill to emerge from the legislative rather than the executive branch, a far-reaching law to combat gender-based violence; spearheaded efforts to eliminate discrimination and enhance human rights protections; and fostered cross-party and male-female collaboration through the Forum of Rwandan Women Parliamentarians and by involving men in efforts to craft legislation." Detailed case studies can be found on the website.
"Then someone gave us pants...
After the genocide in Rwanda, village women created the Duhozanye Association – which translates, ‘Let’s Console Each Other’. The association’s founder and President told us how it began:
"After the genocide, the widows decided to get together. There were 310 of us … At the first gathering it was mostly crying and some talking. We told each other what happened to us. Little by little we got accustomed to the situation – crying wasn’t the solution. We thought of activities to do.
We thought about getting lodging and getting houses … A group of four or five would build for one, then go to another to build a shelter for her. If it was too difficult we would go to the local authorities and ask them to help build the house.
In Rwanda women are not allowed to go on the roof. That is the man’s job. At first we’d go out at night to repair our houses, so no one would see us. But then someone found out and gave us pants to wear. Then we decided it did not matter if anyone laughed. We went out during the day.”
This story is told in Chapter 10: Reconstruction, in “Women, War, Peace: the Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building (Progress of the World’s Women 2002, Vol. 1)”, by Elisabeth Rehn and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (United Nations Development Fund for Women UNIFEM).
In 1995, the Duhozanye Association was awarded the Scroll of Honour by UN Habitat. Duhozanye was featured in a 1998 video entitled From Tears to Hope by the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.
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