For two days, the United Nations has been sponsoring a Gender Conference, “Changing Dynamics, Accelerating Progress,” to promote conversation and change about traditional notions of the role of women in Africa. The Conference was held at the Serena Hotel in Kigali. Jane and I attended sessions today with Kathy Katengwa, She worked with the Global Health organization for several years traveling abroad and in the US. Now she is back home in Rwanda and serving as the National Director of FAWE Schools.
The conference featured sessions that were developed to focus on the role that youth, both young men and women, can have in effecting change and in adding their voices to the conversations about gender equality. Besides Rwanda, youth attended from several African nations including Malawi, Burundi, Tanzania, Ghana and South Sudan. Panels, video presentations, interactive sessions highlighted the powerful impact that the voices of young people can have in ensuring that the Africa of the 21st century is a continent in which women have choices, are respected, and can lead development and cultural initiatives.
The first session we attended was titled Accountability for Gender Equality. A panel of policy and religious leaders discussed the need for schools, businesses, religious organizations and all aspects of society to develop policies about gender equity that include accountability measures. A session entitled Accelerating Momentum for Gender Equality: The Role of Youth was very clear that young people must be the leaders of change to challenge the historical and cultural traditions that have framed the role of women exclusively within the context of the home. The panel included a member of parliament and two Rwandan women who are executives: one is OCT for Rwanda Online and another ED for Imaginewe Rwanda. The session was interactive, asking young people in the audience to respond after each panelist spoke. The articulate, strong voices of the youth seemed to echo the strong clear voices of the students from Parkland High School as they rally the US to make changes in our own society. It was inspiring, indeed. For me it sets the motto and mission of the Maranyundo School… Respect, Responsibility and Leadership… within a context and vision for gender equality in the continent.
And this was a surprise! When I arrived at the Conference, Jane and I were looking at these wonderful posters sponsored by Nike that highlighted various young women in Rwanda who were “making a difference” throughout Rwanda. I suddenly caught sight of a photo of a young woman in a Tufts sweatshirt. Upon a closer look, the poster was celebrating the accomplishments of Ms. Maureen Kalimba Isimbi who developed a water pump system for her village in the northern part of Rwanda. She is now in the Engineering School at Tufts University. David Hammer, physics education professor at Tufts, and I have been talking with her about new research she is interested in exploring that has to do with ergonomics in classrooms.
Her story and many other stories inspire the African nations to persist in insisting on developing their human resources and opportunities for women to achieve.
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