Gender issues in Rwanda

Fieldwork Report, Spring 2015

Abstract

In March 2015 a joint field trip to Rwanda was organized with the participation of Master’s and PhD students and professors from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and the University of Pécs, Hungary (prior to meeting in Kigali, the Hungarian team spent a week in Arusha, Tanzania). During our stay in Kigali we had the possibility to make plenty of interviews in an interdisciplinary manner. My focus was laid on how gender equality works in practice. Concerning this topic we recorded interviews with leaders of NGOs focusing on female empowerment and the director of the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Rwanda on the consciousness of society at large, related to gender question. I also asked the representatives of ministries we visited about female empowerment, and we had the privilege to meet President Paul Kagame who welcomed us in his Cabinet Meeting Room for a two-hour long discussion. This article will discuss the function of the ministries and organizations regarding gender issues.