When it comes to Rwanda, many people often think of words such as "massacre", "poverty" and "backwardness", and it is undeniable that Rwanda in the 90s can indeed be equated with these descriptions. But today, Rwanda has shaken off the shadow of the past and has become one of the most stable countries in Africa, just like China 20 years ago, creating an "economic miracle" and having a number of "firsts": the world's number one reformer, the first business environment in East Africa, and the world's first communication technology promotion.
These miracles are inseparable from an important promoter - Rwandan women.
Rwanda has long set a goal for the United Nations to reach 30 percent of women in politics by 1995, but more than 20 years later, Rwanda has become one of the few countries that meet that standard. Since 2003, the proportion of women parliamentarians has exceeded 56%, the highest in the world, and as of 2020, 4 out of 7 Supreme Court judges and 1/2 of 26 cabinet members are women.
It all stemmed from the massacre of the century decades ago. In April-July 1994, influenced by colonial history, the Hutu, who made up 84 per cent of Rwanda's population, wielded butcher knives at Tutsi, resulting in the deaths of nearly 1 million people, the victimization of 250,000-500,000 women and the flight of more than 2 million people.
Rwandans forced to flee in 1994
The power of women in rebirth
Rwanda is located in the hinterland of East Africa, the geomorphology and climate are similar to the mainland Kunming, known as the "country of a thousand hills", the land area is about 2.6 square kilometers, equivalent to the sum of Beijing and Tianjin, with a total population of more than 13 million (2022).
Rwandan society before the massacre was dominated by a patriarchal culture for a long time, with men being regarded as the head of the family and having the highest say in family life and property ownership, while women were regarded as the property of their husbands, with extremely low family status, and all their production income belonged to the husband's family.
But after the killings, Rwanda's total population loss reached 25%, 70% of the survivors were women, and the burden of rebuilding their homes fell on women.
There is no doubt that the road to reconstruction has been difficult. The women, whose homes were shattered and violated in the killings, had no time to heal their wounds and had to leave their homes, adopt more than 500,000 orphans and bury nearly 1 million bodies. Without the right to inherit family property, many of them are trapped in extreme poverty by the loss of their husbands or male family members.
In order to rebuild their homes, they shoulder the heavy tasks of building roads and bridges, farming and grazing, transportation, public security and national defense; In order to attract foreign investment through labor-intensive industries, they work up to 10-12 hours a day; Due to the shortage of labor, many women have to work several jobs at the same time, some as school teachers and heads of corporate departments, both to approve financial statements and to mark papers, and the high intensity of work and tight time pressure make them almost 24 hours on standby.
In addition, they have to find time to take care of their children - in order to increase the population, each woman is required to have and raise at least 3 children, while their husbands still sit and wait for their wives to come home after a tiring day's work, help them iron their clothes, polish their shoes, put away the bathwater...
The twin pressures of national reconstruction and population recovery have forced them to become unstoppable warriors, moving from one battlefield to another.
Fortunately, the hard work of these women has finally paid off: in 1996, the transitional Rwandan parliament established the "Women Parliamentarians Forum" to use relevant support from the United Nations to guide women's political participation and promote policies that benefit women; In 1999, for the first time, Rwandan women were granted independent economic rights such as inheritance rights, access to labor income, and business operations, while more girls had access to higher education, and the state encouraged them to study subjects that were once reserved for men. In 2003, Rwanda had enacted a new constitution that introduced a gender quota system at all levels of decision-making, with no less than 30 per cent female representation.
Since then, Rwandan women have had more and more opportunities and platforms, continue to be active in various fields, become more confident and self-reliant, and their "nirvana" has also promoted Rwanda's "rebirth".
From 2001 to 2015, Rwanda's average annual GDP growth rate was as high as 8%, and the per capita GDP exceeded 800 US dollars; In 2018, it became the leader of Africa's communication industry and digital economy; In 2020, the export value of foreign trade was US$1.409 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.7%; Among the top 10 attractive countries in Africa for investment published by RAND Commercial Bank in 2021, Rwanda ranked 4th...
Kigali, the capital of Rwanda
Of course, Rwanda's development still faces many challenges, such as economic growth that does not benefit all regions; Heavy dependence on imports for energy; The economic base is still dominated by agriculture and so on. But I believe that the future of the country is promising.