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Women in Power
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After the 1994 genocide, 70 per cent of Rwanda’s population were women. Strong legislation to increase their level of representation means that today, over half of Rwanda’s MPs are female, making Rwanda the country with the highest number of women MPs in the world.

In Rwanda’s remote countryside, Alphonsine Umwubahimana has been up since dawn supervising the work on her farm. Over a decade ago – women farmers like her were rare in Rwanda.

After the country’s 1994 genocide that killed many men, women made up 70% of Rwanda’s population.

In order to involve the women in national development, Rwanda’s government started various projects.

Alphonsine, whose husband was also killed in 1994, signed up for a farming program which gave her three valuable dairy cows to start and she now has 15.

“Well personally the initiative to empower women in Rwanda has really made it possible for me to develop,” she says. “Agricultural cooperatives would give us money to buy seeds or more livestock and they would follow up with checks to see how we are faring. So the money we received from them has obviously made a difference and at the same time it has motivated me,” she adds.

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For women like Alphonsine the initiative has been immensely successful. Not only does she provide for her family, she also employs seven male labourers to work on her farm.

While most of Alphonsine’ crops are used to feed her family and workers, she is now thinking of selling some of her extra produce.

“These oranges are starting to ripen, and honestly this is the first time I’m thinking of selling some because we normally eat them,” she notes.

With money from her business Alphonsine has been able to educate her son, Olivier. Although happy that his mother’s venture is proving to be a success, Olivier does not see the accomplishment as proof of equality between women and men in Rwanda.

“Equality is good but of course it has its own impacts,” he says. “There are cases where yes there is equality but the woman then wants to boss the man around and that is not possible and we can never say that there will ever be equality 100 % because the man’s power will always be superior. So if you want to say it should be equal; I doubt it will be possible,” he points out.

Whatever Olivier may think, there is already one place where women clearly dominate in Rwanda – in parliament. Through constitutional reforms, Rwanda now has the highest representation of women MPs in the world, with women making up 56 per cent of government.  

In next year’s elections, women hope to raise that number to a whopping 65%. A huge number anywhere in the world but one   which would more fairly represent the country’s demographics.