A new report has commended the country’s progress as far as women empowerment is concerned.

The draft report on the implementation of the 1995 Beijing declaration was released on Thursday in Kigali. The 1995 Beijing declaration sought to lay ground rules for global gender equality and empowerment.

The report carried out by DPL, a development and leadership consultancy based in Kigali between February and March this year, aimed at evaluating success, challenges in implementing resolutions of the Beijing declaration as well as crafting recommendations, according to Joy Mukanyange, the lead consultant.

It among other things highlights increase in school enrolment for girls over the years.

"The enrollment rate for females has increased. By 2008, enrolment rates stood at 95.1 percent for girls and 93.3 per cent for boys. By 2012, girls’ enrolment had reached 98 per cent compared to 95 per cent for boys,” the report shows.

It also shows increase in participation of women in decision making and national development.

"Women now constitute 50 per cent of the judiciary and 39 per cent in cabinet, 40 per cent of provincial governors , 43.2 per cent of district council members , 83.3 per cent of vice-mayors in charge of social affairs and 10 per cent of district mayors,” it notes.

The survey points out that health care for women has improved over the years.

About 98 per cent of Rwandan women now receive antenatal care from a skilled provider and over 69 per cent of Rwandan births occur in health facilities, according to the report.

The role of Rwandan women in promoting unity and reconciliation during the post Genocide era was also acknowledged.

"Women constituted over 30 per cent of the more than 160, 000 Gacaca judges countrywide. They have also played an important role in community mediation  and conflict resolution structures (Abunzi),” reads the report in part.

Other areas highlighted are peace keeping missions in countries like Sudan, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Liberia.

It shows that from 2005 to May 2014, 446 Rwandan women police officers   served in UN and AU missions, and currently 200 female army officers are serving in foreign missions across the world.

On budget, it indicates that budget allocated to the gender machinery almost doubled from Rwf 1,563,162,367 in 2012 /13, to 3,368,996,677 in 2013/14.

Challenges

Despite the gains, poverty was highlighted among the challenges.

 "About 47 per cent of women–headed households are poor and  women are predominantly employed in subsistence  farming, standing at a percentage of 82 per cent compared to 61.4 per cent  for  men,” Mukanyange said during the presentation.

She pointed to patriarchal beliefs and attitudes among the other factors hampering women empowerment efforts.

The Minister for Gender and Family Promotion, Oda Gasinzigwa, noted that the country’s development programmes like Vision 2020, and the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS2) are in place to address gender disparity. 

"Women comprised of a large segment of the 1million people lifted out of extreme poverty over the last five years through programmes like Girinka (One cow per poor family).”

She expressed optimism that the introduction of nine years of free and compulsory basic education in 2008, and it’s extension to 12 years in 2012 would help counter some gender concerns.

"It is still early to make a conclusion on this report since it’s still in draft form, but what I have noticed so far is that it depicts the position of women in sectors like education, decision making representation  quite correctly,” noted  Rose Rwabuhihi, the Chief Gender Monitor at the Gender Monitoring Office (GMO) .

Rwanda leads the world in terms of women’s representation in Parliament. The percentage of women in Parliament stands at 64 per cent.

Women represent 52 per cent of the country’s population, according to latest statistics.