PHOTO: Lena and Mila, Ellen, Emilia, Jessicca, Isabella, Alicia, Douglas, Shirley, Erica, Levi, Julie, Harry, Ian, Paris Missing: Nathan in Zambia, Andrew and Vicki in Amsterdam, Adam working in Sydney, Inci in Perth after Java visit fell through
Staff and students at the Centre for Gender, Culture and Development (CGCD) have completed second semester studies and are preparing for exams. We have had another fantastic visiting lecturer, South African Professor Extraordinaire Gertrude Fester from Cape Town teaching the Transitional Justice course. Prof Gertrude was incarcerated in solitary confinement during the struggle against apartheid and was a Parliamentarian in the first Nelson Mandela government. Her rich comparative experiences have been greatly appreciated by students.
Rwanda continues to take great strides. This week, President Paul Kagame's promise of 12 Year Basic Education (12YBE) by 2017 was initiated. Local community, army and police kick-started the construction of classrooms at a selected school during monthly communal work, Umuganda. The 12YBE program is being launched after the successful implementation of the Nine Year Basic Education (9YBE) program. A budget of Rwf14bn has been allocated towards the construction 2,679 new classrooms and 5,424 toilets in all districts countrywide. Nearly 6,000 classrooms have been built since 2009 for the 9YBE program.
I have recently seen something of the success of 9YBE in keeping girls in school. Already the numbers of girls in primary schools are more than boys in Rwanda and enrolment in lower secondary schools is also nearly equal. As part of a project on Strengthening Gender Research to Improve Girls' and Women's Education in Africa, sponsored by the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), a CGCD research team visited four child-friendly schools to consider their impact on girls' education in Rwanda. We visited two rural schools in remote mountain areas of Rwanda and two urban schools. We marvelled at the contribution UNICEF funds have made to building classrooms, providing inservice training for teachers, and separate toilets for girls. Girls' sanitary rooms were in each school, and these have been built in 813 primary and secondary schools across the country. Few girls were doing science and technology in the four schools, but nation-wide the number of girls opting for science subjects rose by 2.2 percent compared to previous years. In the 2010 A-level results, the overall best science candidate was a girl, and out of the 6O best science candidates, 33 percent were girls with some of the science combinations being topped by girls. Nevertheless, it is clear that there is still much to be done to improve the quality of schooling even though quantity has increased - enrolment in primary schools has grown to 95 percent in 2010 from 73 percent in 2000. Niece Jenny came with me to Kenya for a report back session with four other African countries conducting research under the FAWE program.
Health. Over 80 percent of cervical cancer cases occur in developing countries, severely impacting on the lives of women, their families and communities, yet most such countries cannot afford the vaccines and technologies used for prevention and early detection. Rwanda is the first African country to have a comprehensive, coordinated plan to eliminate cervical cancer with the launch of a campaign that will see girls between the age of 11 and 15 vaccinated. The screening programme targets women between the age of 35-45 years for diagnosis and treatment. Rwanda has a population of 2.72 million women aged 15 years and beyond, who are at a risk of developing cervical cancer, the most frequent cancer among women in the country, especially between the ages of 15 and 45.
HIV/AIDS. When chairing the Heads of State and Government's High level meeting on HIV/AIDS at the UN, President Kagame said that leadership, innovation and ownership by countries are very important aspects in the fight against HIV. "Leadership and ownership is key in this. We should all ask ourselves, who owns this struggle? People have to be part of this and believe that the struggle can be won," Kagame said. He cited women as the key drivers of change in the fight against HIV/AIDS, stressing how important it is that those most vulnerable and affected by the disease play a central role in fighting it. "In society they are the people who bear the biggest burden yet they contribute to the development of the country and should not be under estimated. We must let them take the centre stage in this process," he observed. The First Lady, Jeannette Kagame, joined 30 other First Spouses from across the world at the UN to mobilise support and to recommit themselves to the Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS by 2015. According to UNAIDS, around 1,000 babies are infected with HIV each day, 90 percent of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV is also the leading cause of maternal mortality in developing countries. Young people make up an estimated 41 percent of new infections, the majority of them — more than 60 percent — are young women, with numbers rising to an alarming high of 72 percent in sub-Saharan Africa — a clear demonstration of the long-recognized linkages between gender inequalities and the risk of infection. Rwandais one of few countries in the South, which have achieved at least 80 percent access to treatment for HIV/AIDS.
Gender-based Violence (GBV). Another recent CGCD project was our involvement in the Africa Region Security Organs' Capacity Building Workshop on Violence against women and girls: prevention, response and peace keeping. Dr Venera Zakirova and I developed training modules and provided training to build capacity and strengthen the role of security organ representatives from army, police and corrections in ending violence against women and girls. Participants came from 14 countries: Botswana, Burundi, Central Africa Republic (CAR), Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Rwanda is one of the few countries that have taken several initiatives to implement the UN Security Council Resolution 1325/2000, aimed at protecting women and girls during and after armed conflicts, and to fully involve women in conflict prevention, management and resolution, peace building and reconciliation. Initiatives have included the establishment of gender desks in both the National Police and Rwanda Defence Forces, sending female peacekeepers on missions in various countries (the highest number worldwide to Sudan, Haiti, Liberia, Chad, and CAR), strengthening community policing (currently there are nearly 15,000 voluntary community policing committees across Rwanda) and establishing the Isange One Stop Centre adjacent to Police Headquarters in Kigali. Isange provides free medical, hospital, police, counselling and DNA services to GBV survivors, receiving about 150 patients monthly, 95 percent of them female, with 55 percent of them girls. Sexual and GBV in Rwanda is considered to be a human security issue as well as a hindrance to sustainable development. It requires the involvement of stakeholders and decision makers, and genuine political will to create an environment that fosters zero tolerance to SGBV.
The latest official data show a remarkable improvement in family planning among the Rwandan people, which currently stands at about 42 percent and 43 percent, in the rural and urban areas, respectively. Figures show a steady decline in the average number of children per Rwandan woman, from the previous six down to four, with the likelihood of a further reduction to three in the coming years. Considering that only 10 percent of the population used family planning methods in 2005 and by 2010 up to 45 percent of married couples were using contraception, it is evident that more people have responded positively to the government's appeal for birth control. This is to avert a potential population explosion that would put enormous pressure on the country's long-term development agenda.
Women. Kagame has reshuffled his Cabinet moving three women out and three in. The new Minister in the Prime Minister's Office in charge of Gender and Family Promotion, Aloisea Inyumba, returned to the position she had in 1994 as the first Minister for Women. She is an amazing and effective advocate for gender equality and women's empowerment and I am looking forward to working even more closely with her. Her predecessor Jeanne Dr D'Arc Mujawamariya has become the first female rector of a university – the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology. Dynamic Dr Agnes Binagwaho is the new Minister for Health, and Venantia Tugireyezu, Minister in the President's Office has replaced Soline Nyirahabimana, the new Ambassador to Switzerland. Former Economics Minister Monique Nsanzabaganwa has been appointed Vice Governor of the Reserve Bank.
Rwanda is now third on the global Gender Equity Index with gender parity in primary education, the highest percentage of women in leadership positions, and a reduction in maternal deaths. Women parliamentarians have spearheaded legal reforms to improve women's prosperity and inheritance rights, and passed laws to protect women from domestic violence and marital rape. The 2011 UN Report on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ranked Rwanda among the countries that have made rapid progress in ensuring the achievement of the MDGs.
President Paul Kagame continues to inspirationally address large groups of people in Rwanda and overseas, and consistently refers to the importance of women and men working together for poverty reduction and economic empowerment. He recently opened the Annual General Meeting of the African Commonwealth Parliamentary Association's African group that officially admitted the Rwanda Parliament as its 19th member, and elected Rwanda Speaker, Hon Rose Mukantabana as vice-president. Kagame said, "Gender equality should be seen as a rights issue, and one that is simply common sense because the significant contribution of women to all aspects of governance and public life speaks for itself, and their participation should not be a question of 'if' but of 'how much more'". At celebrations to mark the 15th anniversary of the Rwanda Women Parliamentary Forum, the President told Rwandan women that they can achieve whatever they aspire to. "The sky is the limit," Kagame said, adding that for the women to excel further, they must have the will that he said "exists in abundance". As well, the President was reported in the Rwandan press as saying that he hoped his successor in 2017 would be a woman.
As reported by Oprah, First Lady Jeannette Kagame has also explained how Rwanda is redefining itself in the post-genocide era and applauded the role Rwandan women are playing in the healing and development of the nation. "Although we still have a long way to go, we have to keep fighting for girls and women without forgetting that in many of our countries, especially in Rwanda, where we had to start from zero, boys also need to be supported and men need to be mobilised to be part of the struggle for healthier, better-educated families." The First Lady attributed the prominent role of women in Rwanda today to the conscious decisions made by the post-genocide leadership, which understood their importance and supported their active participation in all aspects of the nation's development. She mentioned that attitudes among ordinary Rwandans, especially men who once viewed women as undeserving to hold official leadership positions, have changed. "The women's positive contributions to different aspects of society have won them the confidence of men and society at large, who now view women as true partners in nation-building".
Kigali continues to host international and regional meetings including Increasing Accountability and Development Effectiveness through Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting and the AfricaSan 3 Sanitation and Hygiene Conference. At AfricaSan it was announced that Rwanda has the least number of people on the continent, one percent of the population, who do not have latrines, and is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve the MDG on sanitation. State Minister for Energy and Water, Eng. Colette Ruhamya announced Rwanda has already exceeded this MDG by 8 percent. "However, this is not where we want to be, we are aiming higher than this" she said. There are still 42 percent of people without adequate sanitation, and Rwanda needs to build another 70,000 latrines to eliminate open defaecation by 2012. A research study reported that each person practising open defecation spends almost 2.5 days a year finding a private location to defaecate, which leads to an economic loss of about US$800,000 each year. Other financial losses mentioned in the report include the US$200,000 lost annually due to productivity losses while sick or accessing healthcare, US$1.9million spent on health care annually, and annual sanitation related funerals that cost about US$500,000.
Corruption. At the CPA session Kigame said that "corruption has proven itself to be a malignant cancer on our continent and globally. The baseline of attack is an efficient system of prevention and effective sanctions". He noted that Rwanda, along its journey to reconstruction and development, has been able to focus on establishing institutions of governance and most importantly creating an environment where they can effectively work. "Accountability is key and this refers to the responsibilities of our leaders towards citizens, but also, the duty citizens have to fulfil their obligations and abide by the nation's laws". Transparency International Rwanda research shows that the likelihood of encountering a bribe demand is 3.9 percent while the prevalence of bribery is at 2.15 percent. It is expected that Rwanda would become a corruption-free society before 2020, as its ranking keeps on rising, from 121 to 66 since 2006, thus overtaking 55 countries in the world in five years.
Women around the world. According to Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, the women of Africa are the hardest working women in the world. She acknowledged this when addressing the 53-nation African Union: "If all the women in Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town, decided they would stop working for a week, the economies of Africa would collapse." Clinton also praised Rwanda for diversifying its economy and created jobs across many sectors, which has helped to decrease poverty. Another speaker, Calestous Juma, author of The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa added: "If African women were given equal access as men to vocational training and technology, the continent's economy would expand by at least 40 percent...disparities are most evident in agriculture, which accounts for 70 percent of employment and 30 percent of the gross domestic product of sub-Saharan Africa...About 100 million women in Africa use only rudimentary farm tools. That limits them to cultivating at most an hectare (2.5 acres) of land, which they spend almost 2,000 hours a year weeding...Weeding is literally breaking the backs of African women...After all that, as much as 45 percent of what they produce is wasted because they cannot store their crops adequately or access markets". According to the UK DFID 2011 annual report, Rwanda achieved an agricultural growth rate of above 7 percent in 2010/11 and is on course to become self-sufficient in basic foodstuffs.
Women have been significant players in the world's most recent political revolts. The Arab Spring is not just providing a platform for political liberation, but also for women's liberation. Hundreds of Syrian women marched along the country's main coastal highway to demand the release of men seized from their home town of Baida. Tunisia's gender-parity 'revolution' ruling that men and women must feature in equal numbers as candidates in the constituent assembly polls is an Arab and Muslim world first and regional breakthrough that builds on this year's revolt and allays fears of conservative influence. Women feature relatively strongly in public life in Tunisia compared to some of their more oppressive Muslim neighbours. Women represent 26 per cent of the working population, half of students, 29 per cent of magistrates and 24 per cent of the Tunisian diplomatic corps. The previous parliament, dissolved after the fall of Ben Ali regime, had the most women in the region. Sadly, the religious leaders' council in Egypt have overruled the women's quota provided for in the traditional phase of building the new country, reinforcing fears that power brokers from right wing Islam might take control.
In the Canadian elections, Elizabeth May, the Leader of the Green Party won the party's first ever seat in the House of Commons to become the only federal leader on capital hill and one of the women who increased the percentage of women elected from 22 percent in the old House to 25 percent in the new; still rather modest, but moving in the right direction. Canada's New Democratic Party, which is dedicated to recruiting knowledgable, articulate and committed women to run politically, has become the official opposition, electing 40 women among their 102 seats. However Canada remains 52nd in the world when it comes to female representation in political office, and it is falling further behind as other countries take more aggressive measures to even out the gender balance. Globally, women's representation in national assemblies is just over 19 percent, up from 11 percent in 1995. In the United States, women's share is just 17 percent, despite a record number of women candidates in the mid-term elections. There are only 19 women heads of state or government and women make up only 4 percent of ministerial positions worldwide. While women's share of paid employment is now 41 percent, the top jobs still go to men; globally only one in five senior managers are women, down from one in four two years ago; in USA only 15 percent of senior managers are women, while in some countries it is less than 10 percent. This despite the fact that women's increased labour force participation and earnings generate greater economic growth and positively impact health and education outcomes.
Christine Lagarde is the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund, taking on one of the most powerful positions in global finance. Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé is the new Prime Minister of Mali. Thailand has its first female prime minister after the Red Shirt-backed opposition won landmark elections. Ms Yingluck, a 44-year-old business executive, says her key aim is to reconcile the country.
Family. Doug and Julie returned to Dubai early from Italy to support Nathan following knee reconstruction surgery, the result of a rugby injury. Andrew's men's eight were seventh and Vicki's women's double fourth in the under 23 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam. Ellen will leave with her women's lightweight quad crew shortly for the Senior World Rowing Championships in Bled, Croatia. Granddad Alan has been a great help to Adam in caring for Jessicca and Alicia while Ellen has been at camps and then overseas. Erica and Ian are back in Australia after Ian's sabbatical, and moving from Perth to the University of Wollongong where Ian takes up a professorship in Art History. Erica continues her PhD studies and they will both enjoy refurbishing the Bundanoon property as a home base. All the grandchildren and great grandchild Mila are well and happy.
Loving greetings to all
Shirley
Professor Shirley Randell AO, PhD, FACE, FAIM, FAICD
Director, Centre for Gender, Culture and Development Studies
Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) Rwanda
PO Box 5039, Remera, Kigali, Rwanda
Tel: +250 (0)2 5511 7138 Mob: +250 (0)7 8830 8967
mail@shirleyrandell.com.au www.shirleyrandell.com.au
shirley.randell@kie.ac.rw www.kie.ac.rw www.ifuw.org/rwanda
"When you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.
And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit." - Kahlil Gibran
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