She attributed the achievement to the commitment of President Kagame's leadership in promoting women participation in decision making. Diop, who was on a two - day working visit to Rwanda, made the remarks at a meeting with Oda Gasinzigwa, the Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, on Friday last week.
According to Diop, the purpose of her visit was to discuss matters of common cooperation on women empowerment, to learn more on Rwanda's progress and best practices on implementation of 1325 UN Security Council Resolution on Women, Peace and Security.
Minister Gasinzigwa appreciated the good relationship existing between FAS and Rwanda and thanked all Rwanda's sisters in the Africa and beyond for encouraging Rwandans.
She said Rwanda had demonstrated political will at the highest level and has taken strong strides to enhance women rights and promote their active participation not only in peace and security but in the entire development agenda.
Congratulating Rwanda on the progress registered in the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, Diop noted that such strong measures required "thinking out of the box".
"President Kagame has gone out of the box to make things happen. This is why we are proud and commend the leadership for its vision on gender equality and women's rights," Diop reiterated.
Basing on the country's achievements, FAS selected Rwanda as a pilot country for an agricultural program called Empowering Women in Agriculture (EWA)
The project is expected to maximize women rights in agricultural benefits and Rwanda has been identified as one of the five pilot countries.
"Africa is naturally rich, women need to benefit from this richness and see things moving well" Diop emphasized.
Gasizingwa reiterated that it was important to focus on priorities that positively impact on the transformation of the people's livelihoods.
"We have to ensure that all our priorities are community - friendly, this is why it is important to involve all actors to make sure that the issues tabled are the real issues to be addressed," the Minister said.
Gasinzigwa equally commended EWA project, citing that agriculture was a key sector where women participate.
The two leaders committed to continued cooperation to promote the active role of women indevelopment.
Femmes Africa Solidalité is a non-government organisation that aims at empowering African women to assume a leadership role in building peace.
