Gender Consultancies
for the National University of Rwanda
Part 2: NUR Gender Equality Policy
Professor Shirley K Randell AO, PhD
December 2010
Contents
Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................... 3
Acronyms .................................................................................................................................... 4
Introduction: An Overview ........................................................................................................... 5
Background: National Context ...................................................................................................... 5
Socio-Economic Context ..................................................................................................................... 6
Definitions of Gender Concepts .................................................................................................... 7
Rationale for Gender Policy ........................................................................................................ 10
Goal and Objectives ................................................................................................................... 11
Goal ................................................................................................................................................... 11
Objectives ......................................................................................................................................... 11
Vision and Mission ..................................................................................................................... 11
Vision................................................................................................................................................. 11
Mission .............................................................................................................................................. 11
Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 12
Documentary Survey......................................................................................................................... 12
Questionnaire Sample....................................................................................................................... 12
Focus groups sample......................................................................................................................... 12
Interview sample of key informants ................................................................................................. 12
Analysis Frameworks used for the Gender Consultancies ............................................................ 12
Major Policy Areas and Strategies .............................................................................................. 13
1 NUR policies .............................................................................................................................. 13
2 Gender budget .......................................................................................................................... 13
3 NUR strategic interventions to promote GE ............................................................................. 14
4 Student enrolment, performance, achievement and retention ............................................... 14
5 Tracking pregnant female students .......................................................................................... 15
6 Social situation of students ....................................................................................................... 16
7 Staff recruitment, development, training and retention .......................................................... 16
8 Curriculum development, research and consultancy programmes ......................................... 17
9 Leadership values and symbols................................................................................................. 18
10
Monitoring and evaluation ................................................................................................... 18
11
Organisation Structure .......................................................................................................... 19
12
Intervention strategies.......................................................................................................... 19
13
Tracking and reporting systems ............................................................................................ 20
14
Areas of work that contribute to GE progress ...................................................................... 21
15
Mechanisms to share learning on GE contributing to innovation ........................................ 21
16
Relationships with partners .................................................................................................. 22
17
Incentives for partners .......................................................................................................... 23
18
NUR influence on partners.................................................................................................... 23
Governing Structure to implement Gender Equality Policy .......................................................... 23
NUR Board of Directors..................................................................................................................... 23
NUR Gender Committee ................................................................................................................... 24
NUR Gender and Development Department .................................................................................... 24
Participatory Gender and Development Committees ...................................................................... 24
The Role of Stakeholders in the Implementation of NUR Gender Policy ......................................... 24
Monitoring and Evaluation ............................................................................................................... 25
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 25
Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 26
Appendix ................................................................................................................................... 29
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
Acknowledgements
This National University of Rwanda (NUR) Gender Equality Policy is based on the findings of the NUR
Gender Consultancies provided by the Kigali Institute of Education’s (KIE) Centre for Gender, Culture
and Development (CGCD) consultancy team from October to December 2010. The team conducted a
Gender Baseline Survey and Gender Audit, and developed a Gender Strategic Plan and Gender
Action Plan that are the basis for the development of a NUR Gender Policy. The team included
members of the NUR Gender Committee (GC), some NUR staff, private consultants and researchers
whose names are given below. Their contributions are gratefully acknowledged.
Consultants, KIE
 Dr Kathleen MALU, Associate Professor, Fulbright Scholar, KIE
 Ms Immaculée HABIYAMBERE, BSc, International Development Consultant
Researchers, KIE
 Dr Ben Kalui, Associate Professor, KIE
 Dr Darlene RUSSELL, Associate Professor, William Paterson University of New Jersey, USA
 Dr Olukemi ASEMOTA, SABPP, Senior Lecturer, Consultant
 Dr Cyprien NIYOMUGABO, PGCLTHE, Lecturer, KIE.
 Dr Beatrice YANZIGIYE, Lecturer, KIE
 Dr Gaspard GAPARYI, Lecturer, KIE
 Mr Jean Leonard BUHIGIRO, MA, Lecturer, KIE
 Ms Rachel MAHUKU, MEd, Assistant Lecturer, KIE
 Mr Aloys MAHWA, MSc, Director, Interdisciplinary Genocide Studies Centre
Supervisor, NUR
 Professor Verdiana Grace Masanja, PhD, NUR Director of Research and Chairperson, NUR GC
Researchers, NUR
 Ms Mediatrice MUKAKABANA, MSS, Lecturer and NUR Gender Focal Point
 Mr Celestin BIGIRIMANA, Assistant Lecturer, NUR
 Mr Jean Paul HABINEZA, Assistant Lecturer, NUR
 Ms Marie Jeanne NZAYISENGA, Assistant Lecturer, NUR
Statisticians, NUR
 Mr Ben RUHINDA, Assistant Lecturer, NUR, member of the NUR GC
 Mr Claude Nsana BAKATA, Assistant Lecturer, NUR
Student Assistants, NUR
 Mr Livingstone Karamage
 Ms Hildebrand Niyomwungeri
 Ms Providence Mukabalisa
 Mr Jacques Bahige
Logistics Officer, KIE
 Ms Prisca Iraguha, BEd, KIE
Professor Shirley K Randell AO, PhD, KIE
Head of Mission and Team Leader
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
Acronyms
AFER
BOD
CGCD
CSO
DPD
EDPRS
FPDC
GA
GAP
GBS
GE
GDC
GDD
GoR
GSP
HIV/AIDS
KIE
LUCS
MoU
NGC
NUR
SWOT
UWSA
VCT
Association of Women Entrepreneurs in Rwanda
Board of Directors
Centre for Gender, Culture and Development
Civil Society Organisation
Director of Planning and Development
Economic Development Poverty Reduction Strategy
Financial, Planning and Development Committee
Gender Audit
Gender Action Plan
Gender Baseline Survey
Gender Equality
Gender and Development Committee
Gender Development Department
Government of Rwanda
Gender Strategic Plan
Human Immuno-deficiency Virus/ Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome
Kigali Institute of Education
Ligue Universitaire de Lutte Contre le SIDA – University League for AIDS
Control
Memoradum of Understanding
NUR Gender Committee
National University of Rwanda
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
University Women Students’ Association
Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
Introduction: An Overview
Following the establishment of the Gender Committee (GC) by the National University of Rwanda
(NUR) Governing Board, the NUR Executive Committee (EC) approved an Action Plan of the GC
aiming to propose a Gender Equality (GE) Policy, a Gender Governing Structure and Gender
Mainstreaming Strategic and Action Plans. Gender consultancies to conduct a gender baseline and a
gender audit as a basis for formulating gender plans and a gender equality policy were duly
commissioned in October 2010 and finalised four weeks later. A team of consultants and researchers
from Kigali Institute of Education’s (KIE) Centre for Gender, Culture and Development worked with
NUR researchers, including members of GC to conduct the study. Findings from this study identified
serious gaps at NUR related to supporting the Government of Rwanda’s commitment to GE and
women’s empowerment, including:
 the nearly total lack of gender awareness among stakeholders at all levels:
 the subsequent general lack of stakeholder ownership of the NUR’s gender mainstreaming
process
 the lack of GE training
 the lack of gender equality plans and policies and the need to develop comprehensive ones
to guide the process of systematically mainstreaming NUR’s functions
The attention of NUR academic and administrative staff is now focused on the development of a
comprehensive GE policy for the university. It was realised that this policy will be a vital tool for the
integration of gender into all units, management structures, programmes, courses, and functions.
The GE policy statements will guide the GE process, ensure regulations for the integration and
enforcement of GE, and support actors to track progress and ensure compliance via the five-year
strategic plan.
The GE policy is seen to be a government priority, a concern of development partners, a human
rights issue, a benchmark for institutional advancement, a blueprint for gender responsiveness, as
well as meeting the global call through the Millennium Development Goals for commitment to GE
and women’s empowerment.
Background: National Context
Rwandan society is characterised by a patriarchal social structure that underlies the unequal social
power relations between men and women, boys and girls. This has translated into men’s dominance
and women’s subordination. Gender inequalities have not been seen as unjust, but as respected
social normality.
During the colonial era, men’s supremacy over women was reinforced. For example, the abrupt shift
from a subsistence economy to a monetary economy, based on paid employment and a formal
education system, weakened women’s position relative to that of men. In particular, it weakened
their bargaining position on matters concerning their access to and control over resources and the
degree of their level of participation in the development process. However, historically there are
many cases to show that although women largely played a subordinate role in the Rwandan society,
some positive tendencies existed within the Rwandan culture, which reinforced women’s social role
and ensured their autonomy. For example, women played a pivotal role in the management of
household resources and participated in decision-making at various levels.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
Socio-Economic Context
Poverty is identified as one of the most serious issues faced by women and men in Rwanda. The
1994 war and genocide against the Tutsi worsened an already precarious situation for women, and
they were the majority among the most affected in the aftermath. Women require economic
freedom, obtained notably by promoting their rights in access to and the management of resources,
employment, adequate working conditions and economic capacity building.
Women’s participation in economic activities at national level has been measured at 56.4 percent
while men’s participation was 43.6 percent1 in 2005, the date of the last statistical survey. Of the
56.4 percent of economically active women, 55.8 percent had an occupation and 87.6 percent of
them were involved in agricultural activities2. In terms of employment, gender inequalities are
illustrated as follows: in rural areas 66.3 percent of women are employed as against 49.7 percent of
men3. In urban areas women who are employed represent 53.5 percent of the population while men
are 60.9 percent4. It is worth mentioning that the majority of women employed are under the
category of supporting staff while a significant number of men occupy key positions. Only 18 percent
of well-structured companies are run by women5. A large number of them are in the informal sector,
generally comprising small businesses. Concerning access to employment, the majority of women
are employed as unskilled labourers, traders or craft persons. The analysis of the type of
employment shows that women compose the majority of the labour force in agriculture and animal
husbandry (86% as compared to 61.5% for men) and that in towns, they are numerous in the
unskilled occupations. It is estimated that up to 15.2 percent of women are paid either as temporary
or permanent employees in rural areas, the majority as house helpers. In towns this figure is
estimated to be 33.5 percent.
With regard to income, only 14.8 percent of women earned cash incomes in 2005, 15.7 percent
were either paid in cash or in kind, 12.4 percent were paid only in kind, and 57 percent earned no
income at all (EDSR, 2005). Within the private sector, no single woman exercises an activity of a large
scale industrial type, according to the 2003 study by the Association of Women Entrepreneurs in
Rwanda (AFER).
These statistics highlight women’s marginalized position and their economic dependence on men,
which is one of the main causes of sexual and gender-based violence. Compounding this, poverty
affects men and women differently, mainly due to existing inequalities in terms of development
opportunities, as well as in the management and control over economic resources. This is
fundamentally due to their respective roles and responsibilities that have been socially constructed.
1. Demographic Health Survey (DHS), 2005
2. Op cit
3. Op cit
4. Op cit
5. Op cit
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
Definitions of Gender Concepts
In order to ensure a common understanding of gender, some commonly-used concepts are defined
below. They are intended to assist the users of this NUR GE Policy to explore both the concepts and
their implications.
Gender
Gender indicates the socially-created differences between men and women and is changeable in
societies, cultures and even families over time. It refers to the economic, social and cultural
attributes and opportunities associated with being male or female. Societies create and assign
gender attributes, roles and relationships to girls and boys, women and men, and there is often
considerable social pressure to conform to these ideas about behaviour. For example, in many
societies women are expected to be subordinate to men. But in some societies women are dominant
in decision-making. In other societies it is expected that women and men will participate equally in
decision-making6.
Sex
Sex indicates the biological/physical differences between men and women that we are born with,
based on our sexual and reproductive functions; for instance women can give birth and breastfeed
and men produce sperm. Sex is universal and is generally unchangeable. The terms ‘male’ and
‘female’ are used to describe the sex of an individual.
Differences between Sex and Gender
Sex refers to the biological characteristics that categorise someone as either female or male;
whereas gender refers to the socially determined ideas and practices of what it is to be female and
male.
Sex
Gender
Naturally born
Socially constructed
Status does not change according to time and Change in time and place depending on social
place/location
and cultural values.
Gender Equality
Equality is based on the idea that no individual should be less equal in opportunity, access to
resources and benefits or in human rights than others. Under gender equality therefore, women and
men have equal rights to access and control, over resources and benefits, participation in politics
and decision-making, gainful employment and so forth.
Gender Equity
Gender Equity is the quality of being fair, just and right to both women and men. It includes fairness
and justice in the distribution between women and men, of responsibilities, access to resources,
control over resources and access to benefits. Gender equity is a step towards gender equality and
women’s empowerment and it embraces affirmative action where and when necessary.
6
Definitions in this section are taken from Randell, Shirley, (2007) Glossary of Terms in Gender and
Development Training Manual for SNV Rwanda, Kigali, unless otherwise accredited.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
Gender Mainstreaming
Gender Mainstreaming refers to a process of assessing and bridging gender gaps/imbalances.
Specifically it is a strategy for making women’s and men’s concerns and experiences an integral part
of designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating programmes and activities in the socioeconomic and political spheres of the society. It is an organisational strategy to bring a gender
perspective to all aspects of an institution’s policy and activities, through building gender capacity
and accountability7.
Women’s Empowerment
A bottom up process of transforming gender power relations, through individuals or groups
developing awareness of women’s subordination and building their capacity to challenge it8.
Women’s empowerment is both a process and the result of that process. Empowerment is
manifested as a redistribution of gender power relations. The goals of women’s empowerment are
to challenge patriarchal ideology (male domination and women’s subordination); to transform the
structures and institutions that reinforce and perpetuate gender discrimination and social inequality
(the family, caste, class, religion, educational systems, laws and civil codes, political processes,
development models and government institutions) and to enable poor women to gain access to and
control of both material and informational resources. This leads to true empowerment, which is
achieved by both men and women when they have choices from options: an atmosphere where they
are able to assess and change the direction of their lives.
Affirmative Action
It is a policy or a program that seeks to redress past discrimination through active measures to
ensure equal opportunity, as in education and employment.
Gender Sensitivity
Gender sensitivity encompasses the ability to acknowledge and highlight existing gender differences,
issues and inequalities in projects, programmes, budgets and policies and to incorporate these into
strategies and actions. It is to be properly aware of the different needs, roles and responsibilities of
women and men, and to understand that these differences can result in inequality between them in:

Access to and control over resources; and

Level of participation in and benefit from resources and development.
Gender Sensitive Planning
Gender planning refers to the process of planning developmental programmes and projects that are
gender sensitive and which take into account the impact of differing gender roles and gender needs
of women and men in the target community or sector. It involves the selection of appropriate
approaches to address not only men’s and women’s practical needs, but also to identify entry points
for challenging unequal relations (ie. strategic needs) and to enhance the gender-responsiveness of
policy dialogue.
Gender Responsive Decision Making
Gender responsive decision making uses gender responsive tools with gender responsive institutions
and gender responsive conceptual frameworks and is essential to enable women and men to
negotiate transformed personal, social, economic and political arrangements.
Gender Responsive Governance
Gender-responsive governance is an important step in achieving good governance. It seeks to ensure
that institutions, policies, programs and projects:
7
Bridge Development Gender: Gender and Development concepts and definitions for DFID, Report no55 done
by Hazel Reeves and Sally Baden, Feb 2000, p 2.
8
Op cit p 3.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft




Involve men and women equally in government processes
Learn about, take seriously, and respond to the needs, interests and priorities of all
members of society;
Distribute resources and benefits of development equally between women and men;
Ensure that men and women, girls and boys enjoy equal quality of life.
Gender Responsive Monitoring
Gender responsive monitoring is a systematic ongoing approach to checking if interventions are on
track to achieving their goals – specifically from a gender perspective. Gender monitoring is at the
implementation (more micro) level and is ongoing.
Gender Responsive Evaluation
Gender responsive evaluation is a systematic approach to assessing the policy intervention, program
or project (from a gender perspective) - whether it achieved its objectives, what the broad impact
was and why it was successful or unsuccessful. Gender responsive evaluation occurs at the strategic
(more macro) level and is less frequent – typically mid-term and completion. It is designed to
capture the impact on the entire group of stakeholders or beneficiaries, and show clearly the
different outcomes for women and men. Such evaluations should provide us with important
information to inform future policies, programs and projects, so evaluation results must therefore
be documented, communicated effectively and made available to relevant policy, program and
project designers.
Gender-related Needs
As a result of the differing reproductive, productive and community roles and relationships of men
and women based on their gender, they will also have differing gender needs. Development
cooperation normally tries to have an impact on the actual conditions in which people live and thus
to meet their real-life needs, many of which are gender bound. These gender-related needs can be
classified as either practical gender needs or strategic gender needs.
Practical Gender Needs. Practical gender needs (PGNs) are the immediate needs men and women
identify in their socially-accepted roles within a specific context. These needs are gender-related
when their satisfaction is mainly the task of one gender. They are the concrete, material needs that
must be met in order to satisfy the basic needs of life, such as nourishment, shelter, water provision,
health care and employment. PGNs are met by concrete actions, such as providing services,
education or credit, that can relieve immediate disadvantage but tend not to change underlying
causes of gender inequality nor challenge gendered divisions of labour and position in society.
Strategic Gender Needs. Strategic gender needs (SGNs) are connected with the status of women and
men and the power structures within the community. They are the needs women and men identify
because of their position in society. These vary according to particular contexts, related to gendered
divisions of labour, power and control. SGNs may include issues such as the sharing of domestic
work, equal decision-making in the household and community, freedom from domestic violence,
control over fertility, equal wages for equal work and legal rights, such as inheritance of money and
land. SGNs are more long term and less visible than PGNs and relate to the underlying causes of
inequality. The satisfaction of SGNs requires changes in structures and attitudes in families and
communities and assists men and women to change existing roles and power relations between
them to achieve greater equality in society.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
Gender Blindness
Gender blindness is a lack of awareness of gender concepts and a failure to recognize that gender is
an essential determinant of social outcomes impacting on projects and policies, on life experiences
and outcomes for boys and girls, men and women. A gender-blind approach assumes gender is not
an influencing factor in legislation, policies, budgets, programmes and projects. Many government
documents and planning processes are gender blind - based on assumptions that government
activities will impact equally on men and women, and not taking into account their differing life
experiences. An example of this would be a policy to extend credit to small enterprises which does
not address the constraints women face in obtaining such credit.
Gender Budget
Gender budgeting involves the analysis of national budgets from the perspective of their impact on
men and women, girls and boys. Budget analysis from a gender perspective requires not just an
understanding of the complex design and content of the budget, but also the negotiation processes
involved in budget preparation. Gender budget initiatives promote equity across the spectrum
because they require an understanding of who is allocated what in different development fields,
including education, health, and employment – areas that are crucial to building people’s capabilities
and reducing poverty. In addition, a gender budget initiative requires collaboration amongst many
groups, on the premise that unless the understanding is broadly shared, then advocacy for change
would not be effective.
Gender Audit
A gender audit is an assessment of an organisation’s commitment and capacity to deliver
development programmes and interventions aimed at achieving gender equality and women’s
empowerment. It differs from a gender evaluation which looks at the outcomes or impact of a
programme or project on gender relations among ‘beneficiaries.’ Instead, a gender audit focuses on
the organisation’s policies, practices and culture in the design and delivery of gender-sensitive
programmes and projects. Not only does it look at the organisation’s development policies and
practices, but also its internal systems and processes for resource allocation, in particular its human
and financial resources, and its performance tracking and monitoring systems. Gender audits are
conducted on the basis that organisations need to set their own houses in order first, to ensure
there are no aspects of the organisation’s culture which discriminate against women staff or women
‘beneficiaries:’ it is a check to see if the organisation is ‘walking the talk’ of gender equality.
Rationale for Gender Policy
Because of the important role played by the academy in the development of the Rwandan society,
furthering quality through GE is not just an issue of importance for the internal development of the
NUR, but has wider implications. Thus, besides fulfilling its main tasks of research and education, the
University should set a good example to both women and men; for the knowledge that students
acquire, and the models they copy during their undergraduate training will be made use of in their
future careers.
In addition, NUR is a significant provider of skilled people for the labour market in Rwanda. Each
year, the institution releases a good number of laureates in various disciplines to the employment
market. Graduates and postgraduates equipped with gender mainstreaming skills will operate in the
Rwanda society and apply GE.
Work for GE at NUR aims to balance women’s and men’s influence on teaching, research, conditions
for study and of work as well balancing the number of women and men in the undergraduate and
graduate programmes. The same aim applies to the composition of the various professional groups
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
employed and to the membership of NUR boards and committees. Quality employment relations
and fair human resource policies at NUR are also critical to ensuring GE.
The ultimate responsibility for the realisation of this goal lies with the Rector, but the concrete work
for change must take place at the faculty, centre and departmental level. According to the Rwanda’s
commitment to GE, all employers should work actively for gender equality in co-operation with their
employees. GE policy and documents should apply to academic and administrative staff and
students. They should always show respect for and further equality between women and men in the
course of their daily activities. Work for GE is to apply both to recruitment of staff with the aim of
achieving a balance between the number of women and men, and to such changes in conditions of
study, in teaching methods and forms of examination as can lead to more women choosing to
continue to advanced levels in male dominated disciplines and to more men entering into female
areas.
Goal and Objectives
Goal
The goal of this gender policy is to provide strategies that will assist NUR to promote gender equality
and women’s empowerment in line with the national Government’s priorities for economic
development and poverty reduction and commitment to the Millennium Development Goals.
Objectives





To ensure that gender equality is taken into account in the planning, policy making and
evaluation activities of the organisation.
To take specific action to provide women and men with equal opportunities for active
participation at every level of NUR.
To undertake affirmative action for female administrative and academic staff and students
to improve the gender balance at NUR
To address any discrimination against men and women that prevents their full participation
in NUR activities and leadership
To take into account the specific needs of both women and men.
Vision and Mission
The Vision and Mission on which this policy is based is built on the NUR Mission and Vision but
included some gender emphasis.
Vision
To become an innovative, world class and self-sustainable university that provides equal
opportunities to women and men to reach their full potential and participate as equal partners in
development that is responsive to national, regional and global challenges.
Mission
To generate and disseminate high quality knowledge and promote gender equality, effective
research, skills training and community service for national competitiveness and sustainable socioeconomic development
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
Methodology
A mixed data collection approach comprising of a documentation review, questionnaire, interviews
with key informants and focus groups were utilised to gather data from academic and administrative
staff, students and the NUR and Huye communities, to determine their perceptions, knowledge and
understanding of GE in NUR in 2010, the base year. The research tools helped also to assess the
institutional systems, processes and procedures enabling NUR to deliver on GE.
Documentary Survey
Key documents were provided by NUR and other local, regional and international public and non
public institutions for the team to read and evaluate for relevant data for the Gender Consultancies.
Documents consulted are listed in the Bibliography at the end of this report.
Questionnaire Sample
A questionnaire was designed by the research team to obtain the information needed for the survey.
Next, the questionnaire was piloted with a group of NUR academic and administrative staff and
students, who completed the draft questionnaire and suggested revisions of the survey questions as
appropriate. Participants were asked to share their thoughts, suggestions and any confusion
regarding the questions. The research team made appropriate modifications. This revised
questionnaire (written in English) was then translated into Kinyarwanda. Throughout the piloting of
the questionnaire, the group of NUR academic and administrative staff and students who were
research team members received training in its appropriate use.
The revised questionnaire was finalised and the English and Kinyarwanda versions were distributed
by NUR staff and students to 310 members of the NUR community. Two hundred and seventy
questionnaires were completed and returned. The attempt was made to include equal numbers of
men and women as it was considered important to understand the perceptions of both sexes on
gender mainstreaming and gender equality: Completed questionnaires were returned at a rate of 51
percent men and 49 percent women.
Focus groups sample
Focus groups were organised to triangulate results from the documentary review and the
questionnaire analysis.
Interview sample of key informants
Three management, four academic and five administrative staff, two students, eight members of the
NUR community and five from the Huye community were interviewed to provide a rich data base.
Analysis Frameworks used for the Gender Consultancies
Three analysis frameworks were employed in the Consultancies: the Balanced Score Card, Traffic
Light scoring and SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. These were
modelled on the established Rwanda Gender Audit Methodology developed in Kigali in 20089.
9
Habiyambere, I, & Pinder, C. (2007). Rwanda Gender Audits Dissemination Workshop. Workshop,
Kigali.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
The data collected through the four tools used in the Gender Survey Consultancy were summarized
according to the strategy of a Balanced Score Card. The four aspects examined in the Balanced Score
Card framework analysis were:
 NUR’s accountability to implementing the Rwanda Gender Policy and other national
instruments intended to promote GE.
 NUR’s competences, systems, processes, and procedures to implement GE
 NUR’s learning, approach and innovation capability vis-à-vis GE
 NUR’s reputation with communities, clients and partners in terms of GE implementation.
Major Policy Areas and Strategies
From the findings of the research, major policy areas to be addressed are detailed below. In each
case a situational analysis raising policy issues is outlined, a policy statement is developed and
strategies for action are recommended.
1
NUR policies
Situation Analysis and Policy Issues









In general, NUR policies are silent on GE.
The obvious political will of the top management is not put into practice: the management
team generally does not ‘walk the talk’
Gender is sometimes misconstrued in NUR as a women’s issues
The documentary review of the major policies of NUR showed little evidence of commitment
to GE
There is a lack of clear strategies to promote GE
For a large number of academic and administrative staff and students, GE is only seen at
NUR in relation to addressing the unequal numbers of female staff and students.
NUR has not been proactive in ensuring gender balance in issues like enrolment of students,
recruitment and promotion of staff or membership of decision making committees.
There are no incentives for staff and students to deliver GE.
There are some valuable institutional initiatives to support women attaining additional
qualifications, and some academic staff who are implementing GE in their faculties and
centres
Policy Statement
NUR shall ensure that all policies are gender sensitive.
Strategies




2
Review this draft policy and approve a final NUR Gender Policy for wide dissemination
Institutionalise the Gender Policy in all structures of NUR
Review all NUR policies to include GE
Conduct regular institutional Gender Audits of NUR policies to ensure gender issues are
addressed and results are utilised for advocacy in the institution and at the national level.
Gender budget
Situation Analysis and Policy Issues

NUR has not allocated a specific gender budget to promote GE - no financial resources are
set aside for the pursuit of GE at NUR.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft


Development partner funds are provided for scholarships for women to pursue PhDs and
other postgraduate studies as one measure that will lead to gender balance in senior
positions, but there are still too few opportunities.
Although NUR financial policy is based on the National Public Financial Management
framework, which includes gender budgeting, this is not yet practiced in NUR.
Policy Statement
NUR shall introduce gender budgeting ensuring that all data is disaggregated for guiding decision
making, advocacy and necessary reforms and providing resources for gender mainstreaming,
specifically to improve the status of women through scholarships and training for women.
Strategies


3
Implement gender budgeting at NUR
Establish annual financial planning that takes incorporates GE
NUR strategic interventions to promote GE
Situation Analysis and Policy Issues

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
NUR utilises donor funding to provide opportunities for women to study overseas for higher
degrees.
Preference is given to women in student accommodation
There are no other clear NUR strategic interventions to promote GE
Organizational structure documents do not include intervention strategies that are
systematically aimed at achieving GE
Policy Statement
NUR shall develop strategic and structural interventions and approaches aimed specifically to
promote GE.
Strategies

4
Develop clear strategic interventions to promote GE within NUR
Student enrolment, performance, achievement and retention
Situation Analysis and Policy Issues

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There is inequality in the enrolment of female and male students.
Since 1994, the percentage of female students has continued to be low in relation to that of
male students in many faculties.
While the average ratio of female students stands at 25.2 percent in 2010, it is lowest in the
Faculties of Science and Technology (18,8%), and Applied Science (14%) (see Table 1).
Responsibility for this situation is also attributed to the national context where
undergraduate students arrive at NUR after a selective national examination.
There are limited counselling services for NUR students with a consequent lack of support
for vulnerable students, especially for women.
Policy Statement
NUR shall adopt affirmative action policies to rectify historical imbalances in students’ enrolment,
performance, achievement and retention for both male and female students until the desired goal of
50/50 percentage ratio between women and men is attained generally and across faculties,
departments and centres.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
Strategies

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5
Introduce an affirmative action enrolment strategy that recognises disadvantages faced by
girls in schooling and accepts private female students with a lower entrance mark than men
Provide remedial courses to support these students to catch up to the required standard
before entering the degree programme
Introduce empowerment programmes targeting female students to enhance their self
esteem and confidence together with gender sensitisation programmes for male students to
sensitise them to work together with empowered female students
Strengthen counselling services for all students
Review and revitalise extra curricula activities targeting both female and male students in
order to promote positive interaction among them
Tracking pregnant female students
Situation Analysis and Policy Issues
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At interview the University League for AIDS Control (LUCS) Coordinator advised that a
2005 NUR study showed that first-year female students lacked adequate accommodation
and information on HIV/AIDS and how to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancy.
Both male students and men within the Huye community were taking advantage of this
situation to sexually abuse female students, so NUR decided to offer accommodation to all
first year female students.
In Rwanda, it is well established that women are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS than men,
hence the need for the sensitisation of all NUR students, especially new students, on
reproductive health and the need to use VCT. Such programmes are initiatives of VCT and
are encouraged by GC and the University Women Students Association (UWSA), but there
are no written NUR policies or guidelines to follow.
In 2009, LUCS advised that 25 percent of female students attended a VCT clinic and efforts
are being made to persuade both male and female students to undertake counselling.
The LUCS Coordinator noted that initially, the rate of unwanted pregnancy among female
students was high, but in 2009 this had reduced to 20 reported pregnancies. She attributed
this to 62 percent condom use among students: there is ongoing research to determine the
impact of free distribution of condoms by LUCS to students, and the results will be released
in 2011.
Some female students leave for the village and come back to NUR after delivery, but this
affects their study programmes, they become discouraged and in the long run many drop
out. Some married women suffer similar complications during pregnancy. Other pregnant
students abandon their studies altogether from the onset, for fear of guilt or shame and lack
of support from the perpetrators (‘boy friend’ or ‘sugar daddy’).
Interviewees inferred that some male students have assisted female students to abort
pregnancies for which they are responsible and have been involved in their partners’ suicide
attempts.
Interviewees suggested that NUR should develop a policy for both the man and woman
concerned in a pregnancy to share financial and parental responsibility.
Policy Statement
NUR shall introduce sexual harassment and student pregnancy policies.
Strategies


Develop sexual harassment and student pregnancy policies
Conduct information sessions on reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and pregnancy prevention
for all male and female students and particularly for first-year female students in hostels
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
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6
Facilitate pregnant female students to stay at NUR until their confinement and return to
their studies after delivery to enable them to complete their education.
Ensure that in the event that any female student is impregnated by a male student, both
should face attendant consequences rather than limiting them to female students alone.
LUCs should introduce counselling sessions to pregnant female students together with the
‘boy friend’ or ‘sugar daddy’ in order to encourage collective responsibility to be taken for
the pregnancy.
Social situation of students
Situational Analysis and Policy Issues
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Most students fund their needs (accommodation, transportation, photocopying,
hairdressing, food, etc.) from their bursary pocket money, initially provided by the
government. The withdrawal of bursaries may lead to greater student poverty, said to be
one of the main reasons for some female students forming liaisons with ‘sugar daddies’ or
entering prostitution.
The focus group with hairdressers and interviews with hoteliers established that some
female students sell their sex to ‘sugar daddies’, leaving their photos and full addresses with
a hotel located near to the NUR for assignments to be organised.
Both male and female students work in Internet Cafés and deliver good service. Some of
them teach English or French to interested people and charge them low prices. The
students’ association trains them to create income-generating activities.
Policy Statement
NUR shall put facilities in place to support students to generate income.
Strategies
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7
Train students in entrepreneurial skills to assist them to create income-generation activities
Create work/study programs within NUR to employ students in university offices, the library,
the canteen etc.
Collaborate with the National Police, lecturers, hoteliers and local government to work hand
in hand to share information to eradicate the ‘sugar daddy’ business, involving female
students.
Establish an emergency fund for student bursaries for poor male and female students.
Staff recruitment, development, training and retention
Situational Analysis and Policy Issues
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There is inequality in the numbers of female and male academic and administrative staff at
NUR as indicated in Table 2 in the Appendix.
Only 10 percent of PhD holders and 29 percent of holders of Masters Degrees are women.
Only 29 percent of recruitments between 2003 and 2010 were women.
There is gender imbalance in key academic and management positions
There is gender imbalance in recruitment and training
The documentary survey of major policies on human resources (HR) showed that none of
the HR policies on job descriptions, recruitment, performance evaluation and promotion
mentioned competence or skills regarding GE.
There is no orientation or induction training for familiarisation of gender mainstreaming for
new staff or students of NUR.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
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Limited provision is made for child care or other support that takes into account the
reproductive roles and responsibilities of female staff
Some staff at all levels are resistant to the concept of GE and strategies for women’s
empowerment.
There are limited gender indicators in the tools, criteria and standards used for motivation of
staff, e.g. training, promotion, research fund, consultancies, housing, etc.
Policy Statement
NUR shall strive to become an equal opportunity employer by instituting and promoting policies and
programmes that will create equal opportunities for both male and female staff in recruitment, staff
development, promotion, training and retention.
Strategies
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8
Develop gender-sensitive HR policies for NUR.
Put in place affirmative action at the recruitment level to support an increased number of
female employees in academic and administrative positions by defining female and male
target percentage levels
Establish an accountability mechanism for managing and monitoring the extent to which
each unit (faculty, department etc) adopts and implements gender responsive plans for
moving to the set target of at least a 40/60 ratio for either sex in recruitment, training and
development.
Establish a unit on gender issues in the student’s orientation week and in staff induction
Provide training and development on gender mainstreaming for staff at all levels
Ensure sex-disaggregated data is available for training, scholarship, conference, and similar
staff development activities
Include gender analysis responsibilities in job descriptions and terms of reference
Develop a reward mechanism for outstanding research in gender analysis
Include a section on the annual report on achievements in GE
Search for women qualified for newly advertised positions, with the aim of ensuring that at
least 30 percent of the candidates for any position are women, to be in line with national
policy
Ensure an appropriate celebration of International Women’s Day
Curriculum development, research and consultancy programmes
Situational Analysis and Policy Issues
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
There are limited gender sensitive approaches in curriculum development and in teaching
methodologies at NUR, especially in the hard sciences
There is limited support for women to be involved in research and consultancy activities.
Policy Statement
NUR shall design gender inclusive curriculum and mainstream gender in all academic programmes,
research and consultancy activities
Strategies
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Review existing curricula for gender sensitivity
Review the terms of reference for the curriculum committee
Establish a gender centre that can facilitate and support the design and implementation of
curricula that are gender responsive
Support and fund gender researchers and consultancy activities.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
9
Leadership values and symbols
Situational Analysis and Policy Issues
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There is no adequate information provided on who leads GE implementation in NUR.
There are very few women in leadership positions in academic or administrative units and
there are no actions in place to address the underrepresentation
Most leaders were unable to articulate and address gender concerns
Respondents to interviews and focus groups indicated that gender issues were rarely
mentioned in NUR meetings
Commitments to GE of senior managers were not translated into action
Respondents indicated that little was done to discourage expressions of gender inequality
and discrimination at NUR
Miss NUR is seen to be the major symbol of GE at the University
Policy Statement
NUR shall provide leadership training in GE for its senior managers.
Strategies
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10
Ensure that GE is incorporated in all NUR processes, programmes and activities
Develop mechanisms that will aid the implementing of policies at NUR
Ensure that the mechanisms of incorporating GE is clear to staff and students for
institutionalising GE at NUR
Ensure relations between men and women are respectful.
Adopt a combination of a top down and bottom up style of GE management
Monitoring and evaluation
Situational Analysis and Policy Issues
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Systems and procedures to check progress and outcomes on GE are few and scattered.
Resources are allocated to all units, faculties and centres, but the procedures manual is
silent about gender delivery (for both men and women) and thus cannot assist in translating
NUR’s political commitment to GE into practice, nor give evidence about the implementation
of GE.
Besides the tracking of female students’ pregnancies and students’ enrolment by gender, no
other monitoring data is available
No institutionalized or regular systems or procedures to check progress and outcomes of GE
were identified.
Resources allocated to faculties and centres are silent on gender.
The National policy on Gender Responsive Budgeting has not yet been implemented at NUR
Policy Statement
NUR shall design a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system that will deliver on GE and
shall continue to review internal systems and processes to help progress and deliver effectively and
efficiently on GE.
Strategies
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Establish an M&E system for checking on GE progress and delivering GE outcomes
Allocate specific resources to GE and Gender Equity targets.
Establish a tracking system for pregnant female students and staff.
Record and analyse female students and staff dropping out and reasons given to inform
policy
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
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11
Include gender criteria in the performance assessment processes.
Ensure equitable distribution of NUR resources, benefits and opportunities
Establish an accountability mechanism for managing and monitoring the extent to which
each academic and administrative unit and implements gender responsive plans for moving
to a set target of a 40/60 ratio for either sex in recruitment, training and development
Organisation Structure
Situational Analysis and Policy Issues
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Organisational structure documents do not include intervention strategies that are
systematically aimed at achieving GE.
NUR organisational structure and all control mechanisms are not constructed in a manner to
deliver on GE.
Financial assessments are done regardless of GE mainstreaming.
There is no mechanism to analyse providers
Although some data is now systematically disaggregated by sex this does not apply
universally.
Although the number of female students and staff are on the rise generally, female students
are still underrepresented and are seen more in social studies than in sciences and
technology.
Female staff are predominantly in administration and junior level jobs.
Little is done to reward and promote GE achievements.
Policy Statement
NUR shall re-design organisational structure that will support GE implementation within the
institution
Strategies
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12
Establish structures that will eliminate all forms of gender inequality and marginalisation
Design performance contracts that will deliver on GE
Add to performance contracts an indicator on GE and gender equity actions and progress
Intervention strategies
Situational Analysis and Policy Issue
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Intervention strategies and approaches are not informed by likely progress towards GE
outputs and outcomes
There is a lack of clear strategies and structures needed to achieve GE at all levels.
Incentives to deliver on GE are not provided.
The few GE initiatives are not monitored and capitalised on to show the progress towards GE
outputs and outcomes.
GE is not visible in NUR annual programmes and reports.
Although some strategic documents mention GE, GE is not at the centre of NUR’s analysis of
issues, and therefore choices for intervention strategies are not inclusive of GE.
Experience shows that once NUR develops female capacities, these women are taken to
other higher positions at national level.
There is no clear system for engendering curricula, teaching and examination within NUR.
There is confusion between the definitions of gender and women, and most male staff and
students think that gender mainstreaming is about women’s promotion empowerment.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
Policy Statement
Key features of the institutional philosophy, approaches, intervention strategies and M&E systems
shall be constructed in a manner to monitor the progress towards GE outputs and outcomes in NUR.
Strategies
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13
Embed GE in NUR planning and reporting processes, including from the analysis, approaches,
strategic orientations, logical frameworks, timeline, indicators, M&E.
Engender HR policy, including the performance system and institutional building for delivery
on GE.
Include GE in NUR operational structure. To provide incentives for staff and students to
deliver on GE (recruitment, inception and probation period, appraisal system, etc).
Give a high profile to GE activities in NUR.
Engender NUR curricula
Market NUR and its courses in early secondary classes in schools, pushing gender as an
approach for development and how welcome girls would be and how capable they would be
in succeeding in science, engineering, agriculture and medicine
Ensure GE in NUR staffing (quantity and quality) and introduce affirmative action for
balancing women and men in senior staff positions
Initiate a program for GE in enrolment in all faculties and motivate female students to study
Masters and postgraduate programs in sciences and engineering disciplines by providing
incentives.
Design a special program for Women leaders to raise equality within NUR senior positions
and feed the national and international leadership labour market.
Review student social policies and code of conduct to:
- Lower the abortion and suicide rate for female students
- Provide equal responsibility of female and male students in case of pregnancies
- Reduce vulnerability to prostitution
Provide incentives for male and female staff and students to understand gender as a concept
and an approach for development.
Organize public lectures and information sharing from various Rwandan and international GE
experts.
Tracking and reporting systems
Situational Analysis and Policy Issue
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Tracking and reporting systems do not provide the gender information needed for advocacy,
future planning and policy review in general
The planning framework does not have GE across the process.
Disaggregated data are rare and not systematic
There is no tracking and reporting systems that provide regular information regarding GE.
Policy making is not informed by GE
Policy Statement
NUR shall regularly review and update its policies, planning framework, tracking and reporting
system to provide regular information regarding GE.
Strategies
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Develop a monitoring and evaluation system to track progress on the integration of GE.
Include GE strategies and indicators in log frames.
Ensure that all data collected is sex-disaggregated.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
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14
Transform experiences learned into innovative approaches and strategies for NUR and the
rest of the community to deliver on GE
Areas of work that contribute to GE progress
Situational Analysis and Policy Issues
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Areas of work that must contribute to GE progress are not identified in NUR policies
Although NUR has a gender sensitive reputation, GE actions are still individual, scattered and
not regular
There is no system or clear mechanism that provides incentives to people and organs to
mainstream gender in their planning and interventions.
NUR HR policies are not gender sensitive in regard to GE delivery, including for parental
leave and family care.
Although priority attention is given to housing female students, given the scarce available
accommodation in Huye infrastructure is insufficient.
There is inadequate and inappropriate infrastructure for both female and male staff and
students especially students living outside campus.
Policy Statement
NUR shall identify areas of work that are most likely to contribute to GE progress for the institution
and the nation.
Strategies
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15
Provide vertical and horizontal organs for academics, finance and administrative staff and
students that have strategic and operational delivery actions that contribute to GE progress
in NUR and the community.
Develop gender budgeting skills in planners and provide regular feedback to the
Management Committee, Gender Committee and to staff, including gender information and
putting appropriate GE actions in place.
Establish a special program for capacity building and mentorship of middle level women in
NUR to encourage them to prepare themselves for senior level positions in the university.
Design a special program for incubating women leaders in all disciplines to provide gender
sensitive graduates for senior position within GoR, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the
private sector.
Conduct an assessment of gender aspects of infrastructure in NUR, including day care
centres for female and male staff and students.
Review HR policies to ensure that they are family friendly.
Mechanisms to share learning on GE contributing to innovation
Situational Analysis and Policy Issue
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There are no mechanisms in place for NUR to share learning on GE internally or externally.
NUR partners, staff, students, clients, suppliers and the communities in general perceive
NUR as committed to GE in policy and practice.
There is no formal regular forum for sharing learning in GE across NUR organs (horizontal
and vertical) which can lead to innovation in information exchange, approach or
intervention strategies in GE.
There is no clear strategy for informing and communicating to partners and clients NUR
commitment to GE mainstreaming.
Most of NUR partners Memoranda of Understanding do not mention GE.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
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Most NUR outreach programs in the local community (social and development) do not
clearly state NUR commitment to GE, and do not provide incentives to the community to
deliver on GE.
Some female students are mentioned as members of prostitution networks in Huye.
From all sources of the survey, abolition of bursaries will have a negative impact on both
female and male students’ tertiary education, especially women.
Miss NUR event is perceived as the biggest ‘gender sensitive’ action of NUR.
The NUR/- Huye District working relationship is not streamlined into a clear GE program with
clear deliverables.
Policy Statement
NUR shall have a regular forum for sharing learning and innovation in GE
Strategies
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16
Set up a learning mechanism leading to innovation for better delivery on GE.
Provide a regular forum for information exchange on GE.
Conduct, document and evaluate a leadership review of approach and intervention
strategies in planning, implementation and resources management
Prepare, develop and apply a logical framework that provides incentives to deliver on GE for
partners and clients, including the central and local governments, development partners, the
local community and CSOs.
Develop and make a clear statement of GE with local communities, civil society and the
private sector as part of NUR’s implementation of the Constitution and national policies.
Build a positive reputation as an institution promoting women and men with integrity.
Develop and apply a staff and student code of conduct
Set up a special program for employment and employability for students (with affirmative
action for female students).
Approach local government (Districts, Sectors, Cells), CSOs and the private sector to develop
programs for employment for NUR students.
Provide opportunities for students to develop practical skills to enable them to work and
study
Relationships with partners
Situational Analysis and Policy issue
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

NUR partners, staff, students, clients and suppliers do not know what the institution requires
of them in terms of GE
There is no standardized framework for all NUR community to apply gender with partners,
staff, students, clients, suppliers and constituencies.
Partners and constituencies do not deliver on GE.
With the bursary waived by the GoR, partners and constituencies think female student
enrolment at NUR will be consistently affected.
Policy Statement
NUR shall develop a framework for applying GE mainstreaming by staff, students and partners and
introduce a special program to support female and male students’ enrolment and their retention in
faculties after the waiver of bursary.
Strategies
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
Inform partners and clients of the new development on gender issues within NUR.
Include gender aspects in activity contracts such as donor agencies.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
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17
Review the staff appraisal system to recognise and reward actions for GE.
Set up a special program for employment and employability for students (with affirmative
action for female students).
Approach local government (Districts, Sectors, Cells), CSOs and the Private Sector to develop
programs for employment for NUR students
Incentives for partners
Situational Analysis and Policy issue


NUR does not provide incentives to encourage its partners to commit to GE.
NUR partners generally do not deliver on GE and do not mainstream GE in their policies,
plans and programs.
Policy Statement
NUR shall encourage its partners to mainstream GE in their policies, plans, programs and operational
structures.
Strategies
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
18
Review all NUR partnerships to encourage partners to mainstream GE
Engage all future partners in mainstreaming GE in policies, plans, programs and operational
structures
NUR influence on partners
Situational Analysis and Policy issue
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
NUR commitment to GE does not influence its approach to programs and partners
Activities conducted in partnership with NUR are not gender sensitive.
Policy Statement
GE expected outcomes shall underlie all NUR activities with its partners.
Strategies
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
Review all NUR partnership agreements with its partners to ensure the inclusion of GE
delivery
Set up a clear mechanism for a GE perspective in all future NUR partnerships.
Governing Structure to implement Gender Equality Policy
NUR Board of Directors (BOD)
The NUR BOD and the Rector have the ultimate responsibility for GE, but in order to achieve results
a governing structure to implement GE Policy is needed in line with NUR’s governance structure. The
background is that NUR established a gender focal point in 2007. In 2010, after establishing a Gender
Committee as provided for in the NUR governance structure, a Gender Office was set-up and
furnished and this is functioning as a Gender Secretariat. The Gender Committee currently deals
with all gender policy matters and reports to the Executive Council. This consultancy provides the
opportunity to recommend a further evolution of this structure to oversee national and NUR gender
priorities. It should evolve in the NUR Centre for Gender with a mandate to review policies and their
implementation.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
NUR Gender Committee
The NUR Gender Committee (NGC) shall be chaired by the NUR Rector, with the Vice Rector
Administration and Finance as the Vice Chair and the Director of Planning and Development as
Secretary. NGC shall be composed of Deans and Directors with four appointed members known to
be committed to gender issues. NGC shall meet twice a year, a planning meeting and a review
meeting whose calendar should follow the fiscal year. NGC shall report on any gender matters to the
BOD’s Finance, Planning and Development Committee, which will submit them to the BOD.
NUR Gender and Development Department
In December 2010, the Government of Rwanda instructed that Directors responsible for Planning in
each Government Institution would be the Institutional Gender Focal Points, in the case of NUR it is
the Director of Planning and Development (DPD). The NUR Board of Directors shall establish a
Gender and Development Department (GDD) as the secretariat for the Gender Committee under the
Directorate of Planning and Development. GDD responsibilities and functions shall include:
 implementation of NUR gender policy at institution level
 coordination of gender mainstreaming activities at NUR
 coordination of NUR units' gender planning, gender budgeting, gender monitoring and
evaluation, gender annual reporting and gender capacity building
 undertaking of an annual institution-wide gender audit.
The DPD shall have a Deputy Gender Focal Point to provide support in carrying out these
responsibilities and functions.
Participatory Gender and Development Committees
Each Academic Unit (Faculty, academic and administrative Centre, School) shall have a Gender and
Development Committee (GDC). GDCs shall be gender balanced and composed of representatives
from each department and include two students where applicable (one undergraduate and one
postgraduate). The Dean of Students' Unit shall have a majority of students. Gender matters from
GCDs shall be submitted to the Executive Council via the NGC.
GDC functions shall include:
 implementation of NUR gender policy at unit level
 coordination of gender mainstreaming activities in each unit
 coordination of each unit’s gender planning, gender budgeting, gender monitoring and
evaluation, gender annual reporting and gender capacity building
 undertaking an annual unit gender audit.
The Role of Stakeholders in the Implementation of NUR Gender Policy
The effective implementation of this Gender Policy will be the responsibility and business of all of
the NUR community, which comprises all academic staff, administrators, students and other
stakeholders. The roles and responsibilities of executing Gender Policy at NUR will be collectively
shared amongst all stakeholders. The Gender Strategic Plan and Gender Action Plan shall identify
areas of mobilisation of resources and responsible organs and individuals for implementation. These
plans will be the main instruments for achieving Gender Policy objectives.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
Monitoring and Evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation of this policy will be ensured by BOD. To this end, a periodic assessment
of different activities shall be carried out according to participatory control mechanisms involving all
stakeholders. More concretely, NUR shall set up programme supervision and control mechanisms,
which will be launched at the institutional level in order to assess the progress made at all levels of
the university.
Conclusion
The principles, strategies and institutional arrangements set out in this Gender Policy represent the
pursuit of the recognition of the equality for all persons outlined in the Constitution of the
Government of the Republic of Rwanda and the principle of gender equality espoused in Vision 2020
and the Economic Development Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS).
The Gender Policy provides the NUR community with both a challenge and an opportunity for
promoting and enhancing GE and Gender Equity through the Gender Policy objectives. The
successful implementation of these policy objectives will depend on the concerted and determined
collective effort, willingness and accountability by all stakeholders within NUR.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft
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Appendix
Table 1: NUR Registered Students by Sex and Faculty 1994-2010
Faculty/School
Male
Female
Total
Male(%) Female(%) Total(%)
Agriculture
2841
1035
3876
73.3
26.7
100
Applied Sciences
3518
572
4090
86.0
14.0
Arts and Humanities
Education
5958
5263
2307
1832
8265
7095
72.1
74.2
27.9
25.8
100
100
ENS (School of Education)
277
132
409
67.7
32.3
100
EPLM (School of Modern Languages)
6122
2067
8189
74.8
25.2
100
ESTI/Journalism
and
Communication 1285
(School of Sciences & Inform Technology)
Law
5162
747
2032
63.2
36.8
1464
6626
77.9
22.1
100
Medicine
6125
1955
8080
75.8
24.2
100
Public Health and Nutrition
2913
990
3903
74.6
25.4
Sciences and Technology
7546
SESG (Economics. Social Sciences and 15721
Management)
Total
62799
1743
6246
9289
21967
81.2
71.6
18.8
28.4
21106
83905
74.8
25.2
100
Percentage
25.2
100.0
74.8
25.2
100
100
100
100
100
100
74.8
NB: Since 2006, statistics for evening and day programs have been combined.
Source:-NUR Registered Students by Gender (1994-2010) lists provided by NUR Registry (2007 is not included)
Table 2 NUR Academic and Administrative Staff by Sex, 1963-2010
Function
Qualifications
Year of
Recruitment
Female
Male
Total
Female
(%)
Male
(%)
Total
(%)
Admin.
192
277
469
40.9
59.1
100.0
Acad.
99
406
505
19.6
80.4
100.0
A3
11
64
75
14.7
85.3
100.0
A2
43
46
89
48.3
51.7
100.0
A1
65
38
103
63.1
36.9
100.0
Bachelor
104
272
376
27.7
72.3
100.0
Masters
62
154
216
28.7
71.3
100.0
PhD
13
110
123
10.6
89.4
100.0
1963-1972
0
1
1
0.0
100.0
100.0
1973-1982
1
3
4
25.0
75.0
100.0
1983-1992
5
3
8
62.5
37.5
100.0
1993-2002
121
250
371
32.6
67.4
100.0
2003-2010
127
308
435
29.2
70.8
100.0
Source:
- NUR human resources data 2010
-Université Nationale du Rwanda, (1988), Université Nationale du Rwanda, 25 ans après, Butare.
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NUR Gender Consultancies: Gender Equality Policy Consultative Draft