General
Source: The New Times
As a result of Governance and legal framework, gender equality has been illustrated by the development of national frameworks and mechanisms including, the constitution, the Vision 2020, Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS), the National Gender Policy and Decentralisation Policy.
The increased number of women in parliament since 2008 has played a key role in implementing and addressing gender issues in the above mentioned policies and programmes. For instance the bills tabled in Parliament in most cases may not have gender discriminatory clauses thanks to the number of women parliamentarians in the Lower chamber of Deputies. Rwandan women are empowered because the law is clear- women and men have equal rights and most of the laws and policies are aligned to this principle.
The female dominated parliament shows Rwanda's political will to empower women in all sectors.
About 3,652 women own manufacturing businesses countrywide, according to a 2013 Gender Statistics Report conducted by National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda in collaboration with the Gender Monitoring Office and UN Women.
The same report showed that Primary education female teachers constitute 51.6 per cent of the teaching staff.
According to the 2011 report by the Gender Monitoring Office, 85per cent of heads of households which include 27per cent that are headed by women actively participate in agriculture. To some extent this could be as a result of the policy that gives women the same rights to inherit land as men.
Rwanda's economy is largely based on agriculture; its contribution to GDP varies from 30 per cent to 40 per cent thus many Rwandan women earn from the sector.