African women lawmakers gather in Rwanda, pushing for empowerment

Acting UN Resident Coordinator Diana Ofwona on Monday challenged governments on hindrances to women empowerment while addressing about 50 women legislators from Africa's Great Lakes and Sahel regions who are on a study tour in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
Ofwona, who is also the UN Women Representative in Rwanda, said there is a lot to learn from Rwanda when it comes to women empowerment and political participation.
The study tour was initiated by the African Union in partnership with the regional office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and coordinated by the Forum of Rwandan Women Parliamentarians.
The women lawmakers are from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, Republic of Central Africa, Mali, Madagascar, Niger and Eritrea.
The lawmakers will for five days learn about Rwanda's success in women political empowerment since Rwanda ranks high in number of women in Parliament globally, according to organizers. Promoting gender equality is the third of the eight Millennium Development Goals set by the UN. Learning from Rwanda is indeed learning by example, Ofwona said.
With 64 percent of seats in its Lower Chamber of Parliament and 38 percent in the Senate occupied by women, Rwanda leads in women representation in the legislature worldwide.
The Speaker of Rwandan Parliament, Donatile Mukabalisa, said empowering women requires having tools to challenge cultural stereotypes that lead to gender discrimination and marginalisation.
The tool of the highest legal order is to enshrine gender equality and women empowerment directly in the legal instruments of a country and monitor their implementation.
Under the Rwandan Constitution women have to constitute not less than 30 percent of positions in parliament and in other decision- making institutions. Dr. Khabele Matlosa, the Director of Political Affairs of the African Union Commission, said the quota system for political seats remains critical to advance women's agenda.