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Mon. Feb 17th, 2025

FAWE RWANDA: Empowering girls through education is effective in gender parity quest

FAWE Rwanda alumni during a visit at the Gahini FAWE Girls’ School (PHOTO/Courtesy)

By George Kalisa

FAWE Rwanda Chapter beneficiaries’ recounts of tear-jerking testimonies, which end in moments of jubilation, speak volumes of the noble work of the organization of reviving hopes for the future of hundreds of disadvantaged Rwandan girls and young women that continue to face deprivation of education due to systemic problems, poverty and heinous history.

The East African Community country faced the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi which claimed lives of over one million and left the entire economy in a shambles. Getting back to its feet Rwanda needed NGOs that deliver with passion, commitment on their promise to contribute to humanity by removing constraints.

 The testimonies of the alumni and rising number of Rwandan girls that continue to access quality education courtesy of FAWE Rwanda Chapter is concrete evidence of the invaluable contribution of the NGO in promoting gender equity and equality in education and women economic and social empowerment.

Josephine Uwimana, a FAWE beneficiary said the opening ceremony of Rwanda’s Career Centre that the NGO restored her hope after living side by side untold suffering not only as an orphan of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi but also a child mother who had a child at the age of 11. Today, Uwimana is a responsible mother and citizen.   

Bamurange Pascasie from Ngororero District had no idea that she would one time pursue medicine before she met FAWE Rwanda. She is a FAWE Rwanda/MasterCard Scholar studying from the University of Rwanda in a school of medicine and Pharmacy. She is grateful for the support she got during the COVID-19 pandemic period which included a laptop, internet and money for electricity bills.

FAWE Rwanda Chapter National Coordinator, Antonia Mutoro, reiterated the NGO’s unrelenting commitment to promoting gender equity and equality in education.

“FAWE Rwanda is committed to its mission of promoting gender equity and equality in education and women economic and social empowerment,” observed Mutoro recently.

“Our programmes are enabling bright, but economically challenged girls and young women to access and receive quality universal education and other empowerment programmes to increase their opportunities for better livelihoods,” remarked Mutoro.

By the end of 2021, FAWE Rwanda was already supporting 783 scholars through the MasterCard Foundation (MCF) scholarship programme. The beneficiaries are studying in the nine Colleges of the University of Rwanda (UR) plus INES RUHENGERI.

Top management officials of FAWE Rwanda say the NGO’s support of girls’ education is in line with the efforts of the government of Rwanda aimed at achieving its goal of to supporting achieving an inclusive economic development.

As FAWE Rwanda wrapped up 2021 it extended its gratitude to their “dignified partners”.

MasterCard Foundation and a Canada based Charity dubbed Beautiful World Canada Foundation are some of the partners of FAWE Rwanda whose support has enabled hundreds of Rwandan girls and young women change their livelihoods through several empowerment programmes.

“Rwanda as a country is trying to achieve inclusive economic development and this cannot be achieved is a significant number of the population is left out,” observed Christine Mbabazi, the Chairperson of FAWE Rwanda Executive.

“(…) I take this opportunity to congratulate our dignified partners for having chosen the right path, empowering the women is empowering the nation,” said Mbabazi in her end of year2021 message.       

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