Les femmes rwandaises et la campagne électorale - Inter ...

Rwandan Women and the Electoral Campaign • 30 - 31 July 2003
Resolutions and Recommendations of the Seminar
On 30 and 31 July, 2003, a seminar on "Rwandan Women and the electoral campaign" was held in the
parliamentary buildings of Kigali.
The seminar was opened by the Honourable Speaker of the Transitional National Assembly, Dr Vincent Biruta.
The seminar was organised by the Forum of Rwandan Women Parliamentarians and the Inter-Parliamentary
Union, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The seminar was attended by various dignitaries including Ministers, Members of Parliament, Secretaries
General of various Ministries, Directors of public and private organisations and women leaders from different
structures in provinces, towns and municipalities. Representatives from the Republic of South Africa and Kenya,
as well the French member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women, took part as experts. Representatives of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the UNDP also
attended.
In this two-day seminar, participants exchanged views on the following issues:
• Women's participation in politics: international experiences and challenges;
• Gender, democratisation and good governance;
• Presentation of the Constitution (Gender and the Constitution);
• Women's leadership behaviour in the face of political pluralism;
• The electoral law and the electoral process in Rwanda;
• The electoral campaign: Organisation and funding;
• The electoral campaign: links with the media;
• The electoral campaign: responding to the expectations of the electorate.
The seminar on women and the electoral campaign emphasised the importance of:
• Sensitising Rwandans on the important role of women in the conduct of elections;
• Allowing women to express and share their views on their role in the effective and fair conduct of the
forthcoming election;
• Preventing any kind of discrimination in the electoral campaigns;
• Facilitating the role of the press in the electoral campaign;
• Preparing both women candidates and women voters for their respective participation in the
forthcoming election.
Discussions facilitated a productive and constructive exchange of views on the role of women in the promotion of
democracy and good governance, and canvassed outcomes and achievements made to date regarding the
implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Following these discussions, the participants in the workshop agreed to the following resolutions:
A. Matters related to women in general:
• Women should participate in large numbers in political activities and should be supported by all citizens
as well as the government;
• Rwandan women themselves should fight for equality and complementarity with men;
• Rwandan women must work together so as to make their voices heard in the path towards democracy
and good governance;
• Rwandan women should elect for themselves competent and useful leaders;
• Rwandan women should take a step forward in fighting against any discrimination, and fight for peace
and security in the electoral campaign.
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