AS PART OF HDIS PARTNERSHIP with Miss Rwanda 2021, contestant Sandrine Umutoniwase will be rewarded with Rwf1.8 million. Umutoniwase is the overall talent winner of Miss Rwanda 2021, who displayed amazing skills and creativity in painting. She will join the HDI team starting in the month of April as a youth ambassador working with young people and teenagers in advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights through visual arts. HDI is excited to explore ways of communicating their message through visual arts. As part of HDI’s partnership with Miss Rwanda 2021 the finalists were trained on GBV and SRHR. Miss Talent 2021 Sandrine Umutoniwase will be rewarded with Rwf1.8 million. It is in this context that HDI has been partnering with Miss Rwanda to empower young women with information on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Miss Rwanda is one of the platforms that guarantees a wider reach of information to young women and girls who play a big role in influencing and advocating for their fellow youth. Health Development Initiative (HDI) also trained Miss Rwanda finalists during their bootcamp at Hotel Lapalisse Nyamata, on gender based violence and sexual and reproductive health and rights. HDI uses this platform to empower these young women leaders to contribute in the fight against teenage and unwanted pregnancies in Rwanda. Annet Mwizerwa, is the Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR) Program Officer at HDI. She said that as part of the HDI campaign to educate adolescents and young people on sexual and reproductive health and rights, Miss Rwanda finalists were targeted considering their public platform and power to influence and change behaviours of young girls. The finalists have amplified voices that can reach many people, she said. HDI trained the contestants on the forms of gender-based violence against young girls, including sexual violence and ways to curb teenage pregnancies. Mwizerwa urged the contestants to use the knowledge they acquired to fight gender-based violence and teenage and unwanted pregnancies. She added that they can also participate in campaigns that engage parents in educating children on sexual and reproductive health and rights. In their testimonies, the contestants said the training was beneficial. “Parents should have access to information and share it with their children and discuss sexual and reproductive health and sexual violence in the daily life openly together. Having enough information about sexual and reproductive health is important for girls to fight teen pregnancies and unwanted pregnancies,” Miss Rwanda contestant, Umutoni said.
