UN agency lauds women's involvement in government

With almost half the parliamentarians in Rwanda women, the country is a world leader in gender balance in political representation and decision-making, a senior UN official there said on Monday.

"What Rwanda has achieved is by any measure anywhere in the world remarkable and noteworthy, especially if one takes into account this country's recent political history and the development challenges that it faces," Macharia Kamau, the resident representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), said.

Women won 45 percent of the seats in parliamentary elections held in September. Only the Swedish legislature matches this proportion, according to the UNDP Human Development Report 2003.

In a statement, the UNDP quoted Kamau as saying that Rwanda was now set to achieve key Millennium Development Goals, "including Goal 3, which calls for countries to promote gender equality and empower women".

"This is indeed testament to a people and a leadership determined to put in place democratic foundations that will ensure that this nation maximizes the potential of its people, irrespective of gender," Kamau said.

UNDP also praised Rwandan President Paul Kagame for appointing women to nine of 28 ministerial posts, saying this was among the highest proportions in the world.

Rwanda adopted a new constitution in May, allowing women to hold at least 30 percent of all positions in government and other decision-making positions. Women gained from strong political leadership and grassroots support during broad consultations to frame the Constitution, UNDP reported. It said the international community, including UNDP, supported these efforts.

UNDP said women and girls constituted 52 percent of Rwanda's eight million people.

UNDP and the Netherlands funded a US $1.5-million project to train women in decision-making and create exchange mechanisms, strengthen women's civil society organisations and establish structures for women at all government levels, the agency reported. This included creation of the Ministry for Gender and setting up 24 communal women's funds for income generating projects.