Rwanda: Women Echo Calls for Consolidation of Women’s Gains

By George Kalisa

Rwanda’s woman Activist and philanthropist, Godelieve Mukasarasi recently called on Rwandan women and girls to embrace a culture of hard work and love for their country as one of the ways to consolidate women’s achievements.

Mukasarasi said that defending and promoting women’s human rights and freedoms does not mean violating men’s rights, stressing that safeguarding the peace and security ushered into country by President Paul Kagame and liberators requires women to respect human rights and freedoms of all Rwandans regardless of gender.

Mukasarasi is the Founder and Coordinator of the Solidarity for the Development of Widows and Orphans to Promote Self-Sufficiency and Livelihoods (SEVOTA), which has been contributing to improvement of moral, social, political, cultural and economic living conditions of its beneficiaries since it was established in December 1994.

The woman activist remarked during an exclusive interview with The Light Magazine at SEVOTA’s Head Office in Kacyiru, Kigali city.

“Women’s liberation, in my view, means Rwandan women rising up to the occasion to utilizing the current peace and security around Rwandan borders to develop themselves, their communities and country,” observed Mukasarasi.

She said that women’s liberations translates to starting income generating projects at both individual and cooperative levels in order to improve household incomes and livelihoods.

Mukasarasi said celebrating International Women’s Day provides an opportunity to pay tribute to President Paul Kagame who engineered liberation of Rwandan women through law reforms on gender that guarantee equality of men and women in as far as access to finance services is concerned. The government, she said, has repealed all the laws that discriminated women.

Mukasarasi noted that Rwanda put in place laws that make it possible for women to open accounts, which was illegal unless they got permission from their spouses.

Today, the law allows the girl child to inherit property such as land, which was exclusively the preserve of their brothers.

“On such a day women should thank President Paul Kagame whose visionary leadership recognized women for the first time as humans that need to live dignified lives like their male compatriots,” remarked Mukasarasi.

Rwandan women and girls should always remember and pay tribute to people that sacrificed lives for them to enjoy the current peace and security, explained Mukasarasi and development should not be a lip service or a song, but hard work, self-esteem and love for homeland, Rwanda for every Rwandan woman.

She called on smallholder women farmers to expand their household incomes by keeping animals with a short maturing period like goats, pigs and rabbits. Mukasarasi said that apart from improving diets, the income they get can improve the welfare of the families whereas the animal waste can make organic animal manure for their farms.

SEVOTA leader said that Rwandan women should embrace the spirit of working together in groups or cooperatives, thereby helping to buttress the unity of Rwandans, and helping children and youths to be seamlessly integrated in Rwandan society. She said women should be agents of unity and peace in households as nation’s peace and stability hugely depends on the stability of individual families.

On girls, Mukasarasi urged them to avoid any obstacles to development, citing the problem of child mothers. She, however, advised child mothers to accept their situation and jump out of self pity to work hard in order to improve their livelihoods and ensure proper child upbringing such as ensuring healthy diets for their children to eliminate stunting.

To effect, she encouraged them to value education and vocational courses in order to receive lifelong knowledge and skills that can help them become more employable, productive and attain sustainable incomes on a self-reliant basis.

She reminded Rwandan women that equity and equality of women and men does not mean competition but love and respect for each other.

For the last 27 years, SEVOTA has relentless been tailoring all its activities and efforts to restoring broken families and rebuilding the lives of the victims of rape during 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and their children.  

For her efforts towards humanity and restoration of dignity of women and children, Mukasarasi has won several awards locally and internationally including International Women of Courage Award (Washington, DC, USA 2018 and Recognition as a Woman Social Pact Protector among others.

This year, she was nominated by Yolande Mukagasana Foundation – founded by a Genocide survivor and anti-genocide activist Yolande Mukagasana for recognition as a Woman of Courage who has spearheaded women’s dignity her homeland.

“In the aftermath of the genocide, Godelieve decided to use her experience in social work to create an organization responding to the needs of women and children survivors of the genocide,” said Makagasana through her Foundation’s official tweeter hander.   

“The Yolande Mukagasana Foundation is proud that the two Rwandans it recommended have been recognized. Damas Gisimba and Godelieve Mukasarasi. This collaboration will take place every year,” added Mukagasana.  

During the colourful occasion that took place in Milan, Italy early March, GARIWO planted a tree for Godelieve Mukasarasi. GARIWO is a European Foundation based in Milan, Italy, which has fought for years to bring international recognition to people who have done good during the genocide.