THE NEXT FRONTIER FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT Rwandan women have had an outstanding impact on our economic growth and societal development. According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, women comprise 74 per cent of informal trade in Rwanda, which in turn contributes 30 per cent of GDP. Interestingly, a considerable portion of this trade occurs at border points – where women, many of them mothers and wives, are breaking through cultural barriers, leaving their homes and travelling long distances to sustain their families as they facilitate the growing demand for consumer goods. Women have actively taken up the Government policy encouraging clustering of women in cooperatives that have common development goals and this has greatly impacted local communities. Rwandan women have captured the hearts of international consumers with women now running businesses and cooperatives securing deals with reputable wholesalers such as Starbucks and Macy’s. The Government has also made deliberate efforts to promote women in governance and, today, Rwanda is an exemplary global model for inclusion of women. Up to 63.8 per cent of parliamentarians are women, the women highest representation in parliament anywhere in the world. Today, it is the norm to find women occupying key decision-making roles in government institutions. This was no overnight miracle – it all happened by design, with the government deliberately implementing policies that have prioritised significant involvement of women in various sectors of public administration. newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2014-10-21/182158/
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 08:17:36 +0000
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