A total of 100 female leaders who have graduated from an internship programme organised by the government are set to increase gender equality in the local government seats, activists have said.

The internship which was organised by Rwanda Local Government Authorities (RALGA), UN Women and the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion has been concluded in a graduation event that took place on Friday.

Dubbed, "Professional internship in local government for female fresh university graduates,” the programme took place from February to October 2021.

Running for its second edition, it targeted female fresh university graduates who have demonstrated outstanding performance in their college studies.

Ladislas Ngendahimana, the Secretary General of RALGA explained the idea behind the initiative.

"Having our leadership dominated by women is a commendable move, but the development is not natural, it is strived for, nurtured and fought for. That’s why we are training these young leaders to prepare for the future cohorts of our leaders,” he noted.

Ngendahimana asserted that this program which started in 2019 has a strong ambition to empower women and girls to work in local authorities.

Some of the interns contented for local government positions in the recently concluded elections, and 20 of them were successful.

Solange Umutesi, the Executive Administrator of Kicukiro District testified to a greater role of the fellowship that nurtures young leaders, and addresses unemployment issues.

"Fellowships like these enlighten young women and show them the potential and the opportunity they have at the workplace. I am sure that these 20 fellows who were recently elected had not identified their capabilities before commencing the internships,” Umutesi observed.

 Dr. Jeanette Bayisenge, the Minister of Family and Gender Promotion applauded the graduating interns, for having undertaken the training during tough times.

"We appreciate your zeal, passion and motivation to go with this internship, during the challenging times of the pandemic”, she said.

She then highlighted why her institution chose to focusing on the local government:

"We prefer the local government, because it is the pathway of the government services to the people, and we have to do this because even if we have 33 percent of local positions occupied by women, that is the minimum target, not the maximum,” she noted.

One of the beneficiaries, Valentine Mukashya, a graduate of Applied Statistics from the University of Rwanda says that the internship has been beneficial to her career.

"Most of the time, we study things in theory, but this internship has been an opportunity for me to go to the field, collect data and apply what I have learnt in real life,” she told The New Times.

The recent local government elections have seen women occupying 46 percent of the local seats.