KIGALI – The First Lady Jeannette Kagame has launched an initiative to advocate for further women empowerment.

The scheme called ‘Imbuto Foundation’ was launched yesterday at Kigali Serena Hotel.
Officiating at the function, Mrs Kagame called on women to work hard by emulating other female leaders who have achieved a lot.

"Concerted efforts will lead you to achieving most of your goals. You should always know that the government is fully behind you and will always embrace the development activities you engage in,” Mrs Kagame told hundreds of Rwandan young women.

Mrs Kagame is the president of Imbuto Foundation, which was founded to carry on the work of consistently pioneering initiatives on health, education and economic empowerment.

Those duties were previously performed by Protection and Care of Families against HIV/Aids (PACFA), a project under the First Lady’s office.

She cautioned women to live exemplary, saying that ‘Imbuto’ (seeds), once planted in time and properly cared for bear good fruits for national development.

Several other guest speakers gave suggestions on how to promote and support young Rwandan women as they work to become future leaders in every field.

Julia Kakonge Muntu, a gender specialist at the African Development Bank (AfDB), urged women to have positive attitude towards work and always seek for improvement and evaluation.

"An achiever believes in a path she has chosen even when it is hard, she also aspires to be a model to others,” she said.

Solina Nyirahabimana, the Minister in the Office of the President, said that young women should be given an opportunity for exposure to develop different their talents.

Meanwhile, the foundation later in the day awarded seven women for promoting sustainable leadership for young Rwandan women through ‘Celebrating Young Women Achievers’ event.
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