The recalling point that is stuck in one’s mind when the name Rwanda uttered is the historical massive massacre of the 1994 civil war. As certain resources revealed, the cause of the civil war was the anti-Tutsi hatred sentiment incited by Hutu extremists against the Tutsi tribe. This ethnic group was seen as enemies in the eyes of other dominant tribes like Hutu. The war that took place between the two, resulted in the death of over 800 thousand civilians from both sides.
Though the dominant warriors and war leaders were men, women and children were the hardest hit segments of the war. Massive number of Tutsi women and girls were sexually abused, displaced, frustrated and humiliated. Especially, the sexual violence perpetrated against Tutsi women and girls left scars and led them to develop posttraumatic psychological stress and distress at various extents.
After the military victory, the Rwandese Patriotic Front took power on April 6, 1994. Before the ratification of the constitution following the new government, as Nadine Niyitegeka, a graduate student at Akilan Institute, stated, Rwanda used to be a very patriarchal society like other African countries. However, the traumatic experience and irritation that stemmed from the war on a huge number of women and required better treatment and time for healing, has ironically opened a door to women.
The new government led by Paul Kagame created the new parliamentary system which allowed the prevailing seats to be taken by women members. These days, over 61 percent of the seats are taken by women, which makes Rwanda the top one country in women political participation in the world. This has the following significance as different expertise unfolded in their remarks.
Prof. Marie Berry, an international studies professor at Denver University in Colorado, interpreted the parliament’s decision in the following way. Having such a high number of women in the parliament is very important in the process of crafting certain policies at different sectors because of the presence of female legislatures. Women are there in the parliament to debate on the inclusion and participation of women at each policy proposed by the House. This, in the long run, can play a significant role in gender equality and transformation of Rwanda.
In Ethiopia, the House of Parliament has a bit higher share than before for women members. 41 percent of the seats in the House of People’s Representatives are held by women members. That means women are not still equally considered. Thus, especially on controversial crafts and when the majority vote is needed for decision making, women are going to be excluded or only take the smallest portion. Besides this, since the deep-rooted patriarchy is still affecting women from exposing themselves confidently at crucial points, the participation and verdict is still dominated by male counterparts.
In addition to that, as the members who took the seats are from the winning party, the educational background and political efficacy of the women is, I believe, not compatible for various debatable and critical issues raised in the parliament. Therefore, policies crafting and ratifications are dominantly proclaimed and passed by male members. This in turn did mean women are going to be voiceless being on their seats. But with these limitations, the growing change in number of women has a greater impact on gender equality.
The second benefit of having greater number of women in parliament as analysts and political leaders explained in their talk with Shaka Ssail, at Straight Talk Africa Program, since African women are used to be the responsible and sympathetic sections of the family, empowering and engaging them in decent jobs, developing their sense of self-worth and improving their status means indirectly helping to create a responsible and visionary family and generation. When a woman is empowered, the people around her will be empowered at the same time; because of her feminine nature which makes her no egocentric not only for those around her but also beyond.
In our case too, primarily the rooted patriarchy is still grabbing the society. Secondly, though some trials are noticed on policy ratification at different regimes and some improvements are witnessed, there is still a long way to go. Policies and strategies still have gaps in entertaining women’s participation which consider their sociocultural origin and the challenges that they have been through to have reached their current being. Thus, in the process of ratifying and adopting policies, the challenges and obstacles that women may face need to be considered before the competition is made with their counterparts especially in political positions.
The third advantage as Nigitegaka mentioned in her interview is, young girls and children will be motivated and inspired when they see women in political positions. This is a very practical instance to keep them stay strong in their education and to search for their talent. Therefore, development and modernization in Rwanda did follow naturally, and it is seen practically. Besides her say, reports are showing the improvement of the nation in certain areas.
The current status of women in Ethiopia, I believe, is in a way of improvement in terms of political participation. But still women, who should be in a position and responsible for their jobs, need to get higher attention and consideration. It is obvious that the educational policy tries to be inclusive and respectful of girls. When girls keep on upgrading their educational level, they position themselves by calculating their feminine grade-point. Thus, educated women are going to be excluded from key positions systematically. Consequently, a number of women are used to leading their life in incompatible and ordinary positions. As a result, females around them would start devaluing the relevance of education and their strength that they portray in facing challenges. This has bad and demoralizing consequences on the coming girls for the reason it produces undesirable outcomes in the long run.
Rwandan women had undergone through serious patriarchy system, sexual violence and psychological damage. Thus, bringing these women to take the front stage in politics can alert young girls to learn the efficacy of these women, follow suit and stand for more responsibilities and careers even beyond what these women have done. Nigitegaka said: “they had faced challenges; but I don’t have to.”
Though it is the executive body of the Rwanda government which directly ruled and headed the policy, having such a number of women in the legislative section is the fruitful move of the country.
Reports showed that the country is registering a drastic economic growth, social improvements and modernization in Africa. Regarding gender equality, it is going to be a model country to be followed in its rapid change. Prof. Berry agreed that gender based treatments are improved comparatively, but there is still a huge assignment to be done in the area.
Here is the conclusion that this article needed to recommend. Rwanda has brought a change in patriarchy after the country experienced a massive bloodshed of the civilians. No doubt, such a genocide or any other equivalent lose should not be repeated to bringing patriarchic change or any other form to show the consideration of women.
Rwanda can be taken as a role model for other African countries for taking remarkable steps on patriarchy and to assure gender equality. In Ethiopia there are lots of challenges that, I am sure, could be curtailed by the active involvement of women in various perspectives. I personally appreciated the commitment that the government has shown in bringing more women to the frontline at ministers and representatives levels so ever. But the issue by its nature requires unreserved and continued efforts to combat all challenges. Thus, the government should be very wary of considering women’s say and situation before passing certain policies and procedures. It is after the recognition of women the move towards prosperity and democracy could be fostered and achieved as desired. The logic enabling women means enabling society and the nation at large. In this regard, there are a number of important matters that Ethiopia can draw from Rwanda. THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 6 JUNE 2024
BY MEKDES TAYE (PhD)
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 6 JUNE 2024
