•Valerie Nyirahabineza Photo: Sun News Publishing

Woman of the Sun Index

At a first encounter she strikes you as a hard personality. Pretty but has strong feature devoid of smiles. And then she informs you that she is from Rwanda and you understand where she is coming from. A country where the women have been battered physically and emotionally.

Hon. Valerie Nyirahabineza is the Minister of Gender and Women Promotion in her country.

Interestingly, her family name Nyirahabineza means, "You must help people". This, therefore, explains why she lives like the biblical good Samaritan touching and healing battered lives in the society. "In my ministry I work with women who are the most vulnerable group in my society. They are the poorest of the poor".

She talks passionately about the introduction of a gender observatory and its implication for development. "It has been included in the gazette and it would soon be operational. It would monitor the gender progress in Rwanda. Special emphasis would be on the women because we do not want them to be poor. Even the ministry in charge would be questioned".
Nyairahabinezea pause and adds: "For instance we would like to know what they have been doing to empower women. We want to hold everyone accountable. During the genocide, soldiers and militias were raping our girls. Rape was used as a weapon and those who refused were killed immediately. Most of those raped forcefully are now affected by HIV/AIDS. Now we have a commission whose role is to fight HIV/AIDS."

Nyairahabinezea then goes on to talk about other issues affecting the destinies of the women in her country. "The 1984 genocide affected our country’s fabric, traumatized the citizens and we have a lot of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. To repair the loss the women affected are given anti-retroviral drugs (ARV’s) and those that are not affected are educated and trained in different skills".

One of the strategies for development, she says, is to group these women into cooperative societies. "Now they make baskets which are in high demand in the United States of America. Interestingly, the first basket that was made did not respond to international standards but gradually they began to get it right. We taught them about international standards and now they have improved and are meeting international standards."

There is also the children observatory. "But this is specific. This one is expected to monitor what the different stakeholders are doing for the children. There are provisions for children who are HIV positive. Then we also have the children’s summit which is organized by my ministry and other stakeholders. Here children would elect their colleagues to come and represent them because they cannot all come to the capital. Those who are elected are called members of the Parliament. Here the advocate not just for their families and friends but for children all over the country on issues affecting them".

The energetic lady continues: "During the first children’s summit, the president opened the program and he spent the whole day listening to children interventions. Many of the children cried and tried to advocate for children with HIV/AIDS. Since then the number of children getting ARV’s increased. 168 orphanages came up after the Genocide but the figure has reduced to about 29 because a lot of people came out to assist the children".