Dear Friends
25 November 2011
As is often the case, a few days away from my commitments at the Centre for Gender, Culture and
Development in Kigali gives me the opportunity and impetus to complete another newsletter, and this time to
wish you all a peaceful holiday season. I am looking forward to a fortnight’s leave in Australia to have a family
Christmas with 17 of my brood at Bundanoon and will come back for New Year’s Day with the Dubai family. I
am currently in Lagos Nigeria to give a keynote speech on The Role of Women in Conflict Resolution to the 34th
Convention of the International Federation of Women Lawyer’s on Women Through the Ages and Sustainable
Empowerment. It is great to be able to share some of the stories of women’s empowerment in Rwanda and to
encourage leading lawyers from over 30 of the Federation’s 64 member countries and from every state in
Nigeria to work towards the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325/2000 on women’s
representation in peace processes and conflict resolution committees. It is not easy to travel to Lagos in the
current political climate. I also had the privilege in September of being part of a workshop in Nairobi Kenya,
organised by the Centre for Human Rights and Peace where I gave a paper on Gender and Human Rights. I
begin this Christmas letter with news of women around the world, then progress in Rwanda, and the usual
end-of-year family roundup.
Women around the world. There were great losses as well as substantial gains for women over the last three
months. Rwanda grieved when Minister of State in charge of Social Affairs in the Ministry of Local
Government, Christine Nyatanyi died in Belgium from a long illness with cancer. In the same week in
September, the Kenyan environmentalist, Dr Wangari Maathai who began a movement to reforest her
country by paying poor women a few shillings to plant trees to fight erosion and to create firewood for fuel
and jobs for women, going on to become the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, died due to
complications from ovarian cancer. Soon after, it was announced that two Liberians and one Yemeni woman
had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first for women since Wangari’s honour in 2004. Dr Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman were recognised for their non-violent struggle for the
safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work. They bring the tally of
female winners to 15, compared with 85 men. Dr Ellen Sirleaf, the first democratically elected female
president of an African nation, has since been re-elected president of Liberia. She has made a major
contribution to securing peace in Liberia, to promoting economic and social development, and to
strengthening the position of women. Lehmah Ghowee was instrumental in bringing peace at the end of a
long war in the country in the early 2000s and ensuring the participation of women in the elections. In the
most trying circumstances, both before and during the Arab spring, 32-year old journalist Tawakkul Karman
has played a leading part in the struggle for women's rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen.
Dame Carol Kidu's longstanding Equality and Participation Bill to create 22 additional provincial seats in Papua
Guinea’s Parliament, to be contested exclusively by women but voted on equally by both sexes, was passed by
a majority of 72 votes to 2. Dame Carol is coming to the end of almost 15 years in politics, the past 10 as the
only woman in the 109-seat PNG National Parliament. Her bill will rectify this longstanding gender imbalance,
if it passes the hurdle of the consequent change in the Organic Law.. From mid-2012, women in PNG will begin
to fight at the highest level a socio-institutional apparatus that enforces and legitimises the often violent
subordination of women. The decision can be taken as a generally positive indicator of things to come in PNG.
Gender-equitable leadership will contribute to more productive, balanced and representative policymaking,
and quotas will serve as a powerful way of achieving this. Women’s political representation in the Pacific has
been woeful, with just under three percent of all elected leaders being women, and six of the ten countries in
the region having no female parliamentarians at all. This is the lowest percentage in the world; the Pacific
region is now officially far worse on women’s parliamentary equality than the Gulf States.
Meanwhile, women’s rights activists in Egypt say they are experiencing a backlash. With parliamentary
elections rapidly approaching, their new role in the post-Mubarak era remains unclear. From calls for greater
political representation to increased rights within the family, to demands for an end to basic incivilities such as
groping and catcalling on Cairo's crowded streets, Egypt's battle for gender equality is varied and ongoing.
Engy Ghozlan, co-founder of 9-month-old Harrassmap.org, a volunteer-run website that enables women to
document sexual harassment via texting, Facebook and Twitter, has already received hundreds of messages.
Whether the new Egyptian constitution will guarantee women’s rights is uncertain, and 28 November elections
for upper and lower houses of parliament will decide who authors the document. Egyptian Islamist groups
banned under the Mubarak regime are now able to organize politically, a fact that weighs heavily on the minds
of rights activists. Nawaal al Saadawi, an Egyptian feminist author, says many women fear a backlash from the
rise of conservative parties formed in the wake of revolution. Parties aligned with the Salafis -- conservative
Muslims who urge a strict interpretation of the Koran -- are of particular concern. "Nothing is improving in
relation to women or the working class or the revolution, because we have a counterrevolution," she says.
"There is a revival of Islamic groups, the Salafi groups, [and] whenever you have a revival of Salafi and Islamic
fanatic groups, you have a backlash against women." But Salafis have been quick to point out that they
marched alongside demonstrators in the Tahrir Square uprisings, and that they have called for an Egyptian
society governed by Islamic law that does not demean women.
The Human Rights Council has elected Laura Dupuy Lasserre, the Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the
United Nations Office as its first-ever female President. Career diplomat Penny Williams has been appointed
to the post of Australia’s Global Ambassador for Women and Girls. The US magazine The Atlantic has named
Prime Minister Julia Gillard as one of its ‘Brave Thinkers’ of 2011 for her carriage of the Government's clean
energy legislation, along with late Apple CEO Steve Jobs and US president Barack Obama, in its list of 21 people
who have ‘risked their reputations’ in pursuit of ‘big ideas’. One of the others named was Lydia Cacho Ribeiro,
a Mexican journalist who has investigated the ruthless Mexican drug rings, and sustainable, affordable housing
initiatives, combined with pro-poor urban employment opportunities. Hurdles world champion Sally Pearson
has been named female Athlete of the Year by the International Association of Athletics Federations, the first
Australian to be awarded the honour. Pearson enjoyed a phenomenal season, winning 15 of 16 races and
taking the world 100 metres hurdles title in 12.28 seconds, the fastest time in 19 years.
Rwanda. President Paul Kagame spoke recently at the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting, calling on
countries to scale up efforts to empower women. The President, who was part of a panel discussing the
theme, Girls and Women: Scaling up what works, said that it is up to leaders from all sectors to embrace
women’s empowerment to ensure that a balance in gender exists. “The onus is on those who have been
privileged in the past; men and boys, to make sure that we address this problem of imbalance,” Kagame said.
“It is not that boys and men are doing a favour to women, it’s just making sure that they work together to play
their part in their own development and development of the country”. Referring to Rwanda as an example of
women’s empowerment, UN Women Head, Michelle Bachelet called on President Kagame to share his advice
with world leaders. Kagame explained that the success of gender equality has been based on the
institutionalisation of women’s empowerment policies. In his concluding remarks, President Kagame told the
audience that empowering women is common sense and leaders from all sectors ought to embrace it.
Ambassador Susan Rice, US Permanent Representative to the UN, with her husband and children, is visiting
Rwanda and praising the progress of the country since her first visit in 1994, six months after the genocide
against the Tutsi. She said that “the driver of Rwanda’s development is, first and foremost, the commitment of
its people and government to make development a priority. Combined with determined and able governance,
a firm belief in innovation and entrepreneurship, the high-quality foreign aid that comes from meaningful and
genuine partnerships; and a deliberate strategy for engaging the free market, this commitment is translating
into tangible results”. She has particularly praised Rwanda’s peacekeeping contributions, which started in 2004
with the deployment of a couple of hundred military personnel to Darfur as part of the African Union mission.
Now, there are 3,500 Rwandans involved in UN missions around the world. While most Rwandan
peacekeepers serve in Sudan, they have also proved valuable in Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti, the Central African
Republic, and Chad. “Rwanda has paid the ultimate price on these missions, losing its sons”, she said. For
Rwanda, peacekeeping is practiced within the context of development. In Sudan, Rwandan soldiers have
spread the Umuganda work tradition (one day of community service every month for every citizen). They have
manufactured bricks to build schools, and introduced rondereza – energy-efficient stoves – so women will not
run such a grave risk of attack while searching for firewood.
Responsibility to Protect. After Rwanda’s experience of the failure of the international community to protect
its own citizens against the genocide, the country is known globally as a strong and principled proponent of the
UN ‘responsibility to protect’ principle. Rice affirmed that “When it came to Libya, many African nations were
silent, skeptical or even harshly critical of the UN decision to intervene to protect innocents. Not Rwanda.
Alone, among African nations outside the UN Security Council, Rwanda readily and publicly agreed. ‘Our
responsibility to protect is unquestionable,’ President Kagame said. ‘This is the right thing to do, and this view
is backed with the authority of having witnessed and suffered the terrible consequences of international
inaction.’ Rwanda has not just moved beyond its own genocide, it has consistently led by example, from Darfur
to Libya, in standing up against those who would commit genocide or mass atrocities.”
The Government continues to make strides in its fight against HIV/AIDS and goals for family planning,
targeting two million people to be circumcised by 2013. Male circumcision will now be conducted free of
charge at all district hospitals. Research shows that circumcision reduces the risk of contracting the HIV virus
by 60 percent. Many religious leaders insist on abstinence as the sole proper channel against HIV/AIDS, while
government policy makers say that in case a person fails to abstain, they should use a condom. Anglican
Church leaders have announced that they will join the government’s population control program – at a time
when the Catholic Church remains adamantly against it. Anglican clergy in the Eastern Province say they trust
the use of condoms among married couples and will start preaching family planning to their congregations. As
a starting point, 40 families underwent training at various parishes.
The Imbuto Foundation, an initiative by First Lady, Jeannette Kagame, has launched a sensitisation drive that
aims at promoting HIV prevention among youth aged between 15 to 24 in 12 districts, and encouraging
adolescents and parents to hold open talks on sexual and reproductive health. A 2010 random survey
indicated that 612 cases of pregnancy were reported in secondary schools. The Minister of Education has
emphasized that it is important that men equally participate in such campaigns. “We need to break the
traditional barriers and start telling our children about their body changes,” he said. The Minister emphasised
that parents are fully responsible for what happens to their children, adding that the Ministry of Education is
pondering distributing condoms in schools as a protective measure.
Rwandans are being selected for many senior positions on the continent and internationally. Police chief
Emmanuel Gasana chair of the Eastern African Police Chief’s Cooperation Organization has been elected as
the African delegate on Interpol Executive Committee with 190 member states recognising the role Rwanda
plays in international security. Hon Sylvie Kayitesi, the chairperson of Rwanda National Commission for Human
Rights was elected the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission. Dinah Musindarwezo, Vice
President of the Rwanda Association of University Women, has won the position of Executive Director of
FemNet, the African Women’s Development and Communication Network, located in Nairobi. Dr Aisa Kirabo
Kacyiro who holds a degree in veterinary science at James Cook University has been appointed Deputy
Executive Director and Assistant Secretary-General of UN Habitat. She brings to this position a broad
knowledge and experience of over 15 years in senior management and strategic leadership in Rwandan
government and non-government institutions; both national and international. Prior to her election as Kigali
City mayor in 2006, Kirabo was a member of parliament where she sat on the Standing Committee on Land
Use and Management, Settlement, and Environment. Election to parliament and capacity building as an MP is
often a route to further responsibilities. At home, the recent elections for the Rwanda Senate saw more
competent women going into parliament. Women were then elected in the same proportions as men to the
Senate’s key leadership positions. Extremely capable women are now heads of the Parliamentary Committees
on Economic Development and Finance, and Social Affairs, Human Rights and Petitions, and deputies of the
Committees on Political and Good Governance, Discipline, and Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security.
Corruption. Rwanda has been ranked the fourth least corrupt African country by the 2010 World Bank’s
Worldwide Governance Indicators project, emerging as the most improved country compared to other African
countries that were ranked from 2006 to 2010. The country was also recognised for steady improvement over
the years, scoring 20 percent in 1996 and 71 percent in 2010 on the six parameters used to measure
corruption. These include Voice and Accountability, Political Stability and Absence of Violence, Government
Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law and Control of Corruption. The latest government anticorruption initiative is to tag all minerals mined inside the country, enabling it to identify smuggled minerals.
Recently Rwanda handed back to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 82 tonnes of cassitarite, wolframite,
tungsten and tantalum seized by Rwanda police. The occasion was used to challenge allegations that Rwanda
was involved in plundering and illegal trade of minerals, especially from the DRC.
Aid. Rwanda’s recent recognition with an A rating as one of the top two countries in the world that use aid
effectively will not only boost the confidence donors have in the nation but also encourage the government to
continue doing what it has to do to achieve its development targets. Rwanda owns its development process. It
initiates its own policies – then asks the donor community to fund them. Kagame is attending the Fourth High
Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea, speaking at the opening ceremony with US Secretary
of State, Hillary Clinton and UN chief Ban Ki-moon to over 2,000 representatives, including ministerial
delegates from 160 countries, leaders of major international and civil society organizations and academics. The
delegates are expected to discuss international principles and rules to eradicate poverty and realise
development.
Gender-based Violence (GBV). Rwandan Girl Guide and Generation Rwanda graduate, Pascaline Umulisa
joined Ban Ki Moon, Michelle Bachelet and other panellists in New York to launch the UN 16 days of activism
against GBV campaign on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The panel
discussed the important role that young people are playing in bringing an end to violence against women and
girls. Pascaline spoke about the World Alliance of Girl Guides’ Stop the Violence. Speak out for Girls’ Rights
campaign, and the need for girls and young women to be empowered to lead change. She gave examples of
what Girls Guides around the world, and particularly in Rwanda, are doing to ‘stop the violence’. She finished
by saying that ‘only the sky is the limit of what we can do if we are consulted, invested in and prioritised.’ The
Rwanda National Women’s Council launched the campaign in Rwanda with a peace march and a women’s
soccer match between government officers and civil society. As many men as women marched, particularly
police and army representatives. Police have pledged to strengthen the fight against GBV across the country
and launched countrywide awareness campaigns to sensitise people. A new facility has been established at the
police headquarters to specifically handle GBV and child protection cases, intervening and rescuing GBV and
child abuse victims, counselling, investigating and following up perpetrators of GBV. There is a GBV desk at
every police station in the country and the majority are headed by female police officers. As a way of
strengthening the fight against GBV, anti-GBV clubs have been established in schools so that students get to
know their rights so that they don’t fall victims of abuse.
What a contrast these home-grown initiatives in Rwanda are to the Pacific. Recent AusAID and UN reports on
violence against women show that in PNG, 67 per cent of women are beaten by their husbands - 100 per cent
in the highlands - with gang rape and pay-back rape common. In Tuvalu, half the women surveyed lost their
virginity in forced sex. In Samoa, 46 per cent of women are physically abused, and up to 8 per cent are beaten
unconscious by their spouse. In Fiji, 66 per cent of women have been physically abused by their partners; 26
per cent were beaten while pregnant. In Kiribati, 68 per cent of women have been physically or sexually
abused. A 2010 Vanuatu survey across 3700 households found 60 per cent of women had been subjected to
physical or sexual violence by their husband or partner. A staggering 90 per cent of those suffered 'severe
violence', with one in five receiving a permanent disability. Nearly one in three girls are sexually abused before
they are 15 years old, one of the highest rates in the world. All countries have to get serious about ending the
culture of silence and impunity that has allowed the abuse and degradation of women around the world to go
largely ignored.
Family news. Doug, Julie and Nathan will be returning to Australia in 2012 after five years in the Middle East.
Nathan ended his high schooling in June, finishing as school captain and achieving excellent university
entrance scores. He completed Grade 8 in singing and viola, accomplished his Duke of Edinburgh Gold award,
and travelled to Ethiopia, Zambia and Scotland during the year. Julie has continued to teach music and piano
from home and her students did magnificently in their exams, all achieving distinctions. She has also travelled
monthly to Addis Ababa as a volunteer with the Raey Family and Community Development project. Doug’s
assignment as an aviation medicine doctor with Emirates Airlines in Dubai has given him valuable civil aviation
experience and he is looking forward to resuming general practice in Canberra. Doug and Julie commemorated
their silver wedding anniversary in October, celebrating on Koh Chang Island in Thailand.
Andrew and Vicky coached in the World Under 23 Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, and visited Harvard,
Princeton, Yale and Dartmouth University Rowing Programs and the US Men’s Coaching Center in San Diego
while attending FISA International Youth Coaches Conference in Princeton. Andrew has completed his second
year as Director of Rowing at Prince Alfred College, with the Collage again performing well at the Head of the
River where the 1st VIII finished a close second. He has completed the last of the renovations on the house
which is now very liveable with outdoor areas and en suite bathrooms and offices for them both. Vicky’s
School (Walford) again dominated the School events at the Women’s Head of the River winning 9 of 12 races
including the 1st VIII in a photo finish. She has continued her part-time work for the South Australian Institute
of Sport and is studying for her Masters Degree in Coaching. Emilia has had a productive year finishing her
Diploma in Social Work at TAFE while working several jobs that include the Parra House for Homeless Youth
and the Villawood Detention Centre. Harry has concluded Year 11 well and moves onto his final year at The
King’s School. He has gained several leadership roles, which include School Prefect, Captain of his Boarding
House and Vice Captain of Boats, and is still very set on rugby. Isabella has completed Year 10 at Tara School.
She has won several awards this year for her leadership of the girls within her boarding house, won a lead role
in the school musical production ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, and enjoys singing with Tara Singers and Choir.
Ellen and Adam have had another busy year with Adam moving his work out of home into a new office,
employing two full time staff and three other casual contractors and rolling out the new data base for the
Aboriginal art centres he is working with. Ellen has been busy with another overseas trip in July to the World
Rowing Championships and she continues coaching for the UTS Union at their rowing club. Jessicca is coming
to the end of yr5 at school and Alicia yr3. Jessicca is looking at schools in the area for yr7 in 2013. She is
enjoying being in the debating team for her school, a member of the dance schools performance group, and
competing in eisteddfods and carnivals throughout the year, winning a silver place for Tango in the NSW Dance
Sport Competition. Alicia won outstanding Jazz student of the year and received a contemporary dance
scholarship for 2012. They both achieved great results in piano and music craft exams, Jess continues on violin
and Alicia has just started the viola. It was great to be able to travel to Italy in June with the rest of the family
and a very enjoyable holiday and experience for the girls.
After a wonderful sabbatical which took Erica and Ian around the world, they moved from Perth to
Bundanoon in September to take up Ian’s new position as Professor of Research at the University of
Wollongong. They are enjoying the change of living in the forests of the southern highlands of New South
Wales and renovating their new home in Bundanoon. Lena is completing the last units of her law degree in
Melbourne, with my first great granddaughter Mila just turning three. It was such a joy to be with Mila and all
the family in Italy in July for the art history holiday organised by Ian and Erica. Paris is currently studying
philosophy in Paris with his partner Jane. Erica and Ian are looking forward to visiting the pair, following the
opening of an exhibition they are curating in Valencia in January. Inci has plans to go to China in 2013 and Levi
will be commencing his arts degree part time at the University of Western Australia in Perth. Erica stays
enrolled for her doctorate at UWA and will continue studying externally.
Loving greetings to all
Shirley
Chitto jetha bhayashunyo
2011 staff at the Centre, Dr Venera, Prof Gertrude,
Dr Anne Marie, visitor AnJeanette, Prof Shirley, Dr Kisanga
Professor Shirley Randell AO, PhD, FACE, FAIM, FAICD
Director, Centre for Gender, Culture and Development Studies
Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) Rwanda
PO Box 5039, Remera, Kigali, Rwanda www.facebook.com/CGCDKIE
Tel: +250 (0)2 5511 7138 Mob: +250 (0)7 8830 8967
mail@shirleyrandell.com.au www.shirleyrandell.com.au
shirley.randell@kie.ac.rw www.kie.ac.rw www.ifuw.org/rwanda
Where the mind is without fear and the head is
held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into
fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards
perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its
way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever
widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my
country awake.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
Nobel Prize for Literature 1913