The Rwandan Community in Belgium celebrated International Women’s Day where more than 400 peoples, Rwandans and friends of Rwanda alike, attended the event 16th March, a week after the official international day which is usually held on 8th March each year .
Rwandan women in Belgium committed themselves to use their abilities in order to spread their motherland’s values through their daily-activities productivity , The initiative was set while celebrating International Women’s Day
The conference was organized by Rwandan community abroad in Belgium (DRB-RUGARI) in partnership with Rwandan embassy in Belgium. It was held in Brussels under the theme, ‘La Valorisation des Competences de la Femme de la Diaspora Africaine’.
The dialogue, which was conducted using a debate format,was led by four women who discussed with the audience on numerous issues including the abilities of women, how they can exploit it and how well to use it to establish certain values for themselves and for their country.
Chairman of Rwandan Community in Belgium
The panel consisted Olivia Ingabire, a Rwandan young woman who has vowed to promote ‘Made in Rwanda’ program by opening a shop in Brussels which sells local products. She usually flies back to Rwanda to collect her products which are mostly sold to foreign buyers. Also, there was Uwizeyimana Emelyne, a doctorate in Sociology while she is a university professor in Belgium. Nyatanyi Marie Pierre, activists and author focusing on gender issues, was present together with Maria Arena, a European Union Member of Parliament in commission of Women’s rights and Gender Equality.
Mrs. Jeny Faida, in charge of Gender in Rwandan diaspora in Belgium, told to The Express News that the conference encouraged women to use their ability for their good and their country.
“We decided to use our ability for our development here… We have to develop ourselves and so do what will develop our country. That will give us value as we cannot be valued before valuing ourselves through {accomplishing} our respective responsibilities”. She said.
Chairperson of Rwandan women Faida Jeny
Jenny Faida also revealed that as Rwandan diaspora, they plan to enlarge their activities to other African diaspora in order to increase their productivity and strength.
“We want to develop ourselves but also to reach women in other African diasporas in order to have common projects because {we believe} partnership can strengthen us even farther”. She added.
The conference emphasized on the cooperation among Rwandan women and requested those who can have some advantages ‘to be key’ for others who want to raise to upper levels in terms of development.
It concluded by asking Rwandan women worldwide ‘to be active and practical’ because “actions will define us”. Warned Mrs. Faida.
The audience was satisfied by the outcomes of the conference’s discussions and requested the organizers to prepare regular dialogues because of their importance.
Unlike previous conferences, this one was held in French language instead of Kinyarwanda. The reason is to observe the success of Louise Mushikiwabo, a Rwandan woman who is now chairing Francophonie; a block of countries with ties to French language and culture, mostly former French colonies.
French was also used because this particular conference had invited Belgium diplomats and so Rwandan community could easily portray their activities for companionship and necessary support from these diplomats. Thisbond is designed to continue farther according to Faida.
Jean Bosco Ntibitura first secretary at the Rwandan Embassy in Belgium
It is no accident that the renewal of Rwanda was also accompanied by significant upgrades in the status, roles, and responsibilities of women. The same is true in nearly every country where gender equality has been taken seriously. Women are a cornerstone of prosperity for society as a whole. Even in situations of conflict, they are in a position to make unique contributions to peace and stability”, President Kagame said.
Rwanda was ranked 6th worldwide in the World Economic Gender Gap Report 2018 (80.4%) a report that ranks countries on their ability to close the gender gap in four fundamental areas: economic participation and opportunity, education, health and survival, and political empowerment
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NDAHAYO Emmanuel
The Express News
