STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL GENDER POLICY

Rwanda government has strongly expressed its commitment for the promotion of gender through the ratification of relevant international instruments and the development of national legal and planning instruments aimed at translating its commitment into actions. Rwanda is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The latter recognizes the importance of promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment as an effective pathway for combating poverty, hunger and disease and for stimulating sustainable development. Rwanda is also signatory to the Beijing Conventions that aims to eliminate all forms of gender-based discrimination. Its concerns are, among others, the persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women; a lack of respect for and inadequate promotion of the human rights of women and violence against women. Rwanda has ratified the Millennium Declaration which among other things spells out the goal of attaining gender equality and the empowerment of women as prerequisite for sustainable development (MDG 3).