A 28-member delegation from 10 African countries, yesterday visited the Gender Monitoring Office (GMO), to learn from the achievements registered by the office, and the country in general, in enhancing gender equality.

The study tour is sponsored by Swedish International Development Agency, SIDA, to facilitate change processes and promote best practices in public services of their respective countries.

They were selected by their countries to learn from model countries which have been successful in various good governance areas, according to Arne Svensson, a consultant hired by SIDA to facilitate the tour.

They came to Rwanda from Sweden, where the study began.

One of the members, Moffati Bili, from Zambia’s Cabinet Office, noted that they picked interest in Rwanda from success stories told about the country. 

"A lot is talked about Rwanda out there, like good leadership, gender mainstreaming in all policies etc, and we have learnt a lot from here already,” he said.

"We will spread what we have learnt here, like strict monitoring of public projects and amalgamation of various public agencies for proper management of resources,” added the Zambia official.

The Chief Gender Monitor, Oda Gasinzigwa, noted that the fact that Rwanda’s programmes draw foreign attention is an achievement which should encourage the country to maintain best practices.

"This is our opportunity to share with them the strides we’ve taken, and how we have achieved it; because, for example, most of them don’t have institutions like "Gender Monitoring Office”, which they now agree is important for gender mainstreaming,” Gasinzigwa said.

She enlightened the delegation on gender-related issues like Gender Based Violence, Gender Budgeting and marriage regimes, among others.

The delegates visited several public institutions, and are expected to visit Parliament before they conclude their visit on Friday.

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