The number of women in parliament is not enough to show that parliament is gender-sensitive. This was said by Honorable Alphonsine Mukarugema, the chairwoman of Rwanda Women Parliamentary Forum (RWPF) at the occasion of a consultative meeting organized by the forum, which took place yesterday at the parliament with a theme: 'A Gender Sensible Parliament'.
The meeting was organized in order to understand what a gender-sensitive parliament looks like and to conduct a self-assessment of the Rwandan parliament towards those criteria.
"If as a parliament we are not gender-sensitive, we will not be able to monitor other institutions on the matter," declared Jean-Damascène Ntawukuriryayo, president of the senate.
According to Sonia Palmieri, an expert on gender from Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), characteristics of a gender-sensitive parliament include setting a positive example (role model) to society at large in such matters, removing barriers to women's full participation and providing a workplace that is attractive to women.
Read the complete story at All Africa, published 27 July 2012.
The number of women in parliament is not enough to show that parliament is gender-sensitive. This was said by Honorable Alphonsine Mukarugema, the chairwoman of Rwanda Women Parliamentary Forum (RWPF) at the occasion of a consultative meeting organized by the forum, which took place yesterday at the parliament with a theme: 'A Gender Sensible Parliament'.
The meeting was organized in order to understand what a gender-sensitive parliament looks like and to conduct a self-assessment of the Rwandan parliament towards those criteria.
"If as a parliament we are not gender-sensitive, we will not be able to monitor other institutions on the matter," declared Jean-Damascène Ntawukuriryayo, president of the senate.
According to Sonia Palmieri, an expert on gender from Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), characteristics of a gender-sensitive parliament include setting a positive example (role model) to society at large in such matters, removing barriers to women's full participation and providing a workplace that is attractive to women.
Read the complete story at All Africa, published 27 July 2012.