Offering internship opportunities to young female graduates will empower them to join local government entities, officials say.

Women representation in the grassroots authorities remains low, according to official figures, which suggest most of the elected offices are male dominated.

For instance, only 30 percent of district mayors are women, according to figures from Rwanda Association of Local Government Authorities (RALGA), whose mandate is to build capacity for grassroots entities.

The law says women should take up a minimum 30 per cent of the positions of authority.

Though the gender gap has been declining over the years, some challenges remain according to the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF).

In a bid to bridge the gap, a nationwide programme has been initiated to offer internships to over 100 female graduates every year.

The third edition of the internship programme, which was launched on Wednesday, August 3 by MIGEPROF, RALGA and UN Women Rwanda, will benefit a total of 120 graduates.

The beneficiaries have bachelor’s degrees in public administration, social sciences, economics, human resources, management agriculture and veterinary, computer science, urban development, political sciences and education among others.

"This programme was conceived after we noticed a gap in elected positions in local government entities, where women were the minority,” said Ladislas Ngendahimana, RALGA's Secretary General. "That’s the reason we came up with this internship programme to empower and encourage women to join the decentralised entities.”

The fresh graduates, most of them aged 22-27 from over six Rwandan universities, were selected according to their academic performance and will be placed in internship positions in all the 30 districts.

Beneficiaries said the internship programme would boost their confidence before getting careers in different fields

"When I heard about this program, I knew it would be the key,” Divine Ufiteyezu, who is currently working in Karongi District, said. "We get empowered through working with other authorities and personally I am considering running for one of the positions at the district.”

According to RALGA, the interns will be given a monthly allowance of Rwf100,000 in a period of six months.

Officials said the internship programme has started to yield expected results, with some of the graduates getting jobs in different districts.

Some 230 fresh graduates were enrolled in the previous two editions.

"It has been proven by different analyses that this kind of professional internship programme will help increase the number of women and girls who work in the local government,” Silas Ngayaboshya, the Director General for Gender Promotion and Women Empowerment at MIGEPROF.

"At the Ministry, we are currently working on a strategy that seeks to engage men in gender equality in government and private sectors, among others.”

Ngayaboshya added that the country’s long-term strategies sought to achieve an equal society in terms of gender.