Aheli Moitra
The World Economic Forum (WEF), in April 2017, found Rwanda to be the 9th safest country in the world. Its biennial Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report ranked 136 countries in the world—Finland topped the list, India ranked 114 and Colombia found itself at the bottom of the pile.
A friend, while sharing this news, rolled his eyes questioning the validity of the survey. How is Rwanda on this list at all, leave alone among the top 10? It is easy to imagine Finland as the ‘safest’ place and Colombia the ‘unsafest’ given the images we have seen of snow clad Scandinavian countries and the street wars of Latin America. But Rwanda? Rwanda’s popular image is the 1994 genocide when old neighbours turned foes and almost completely destroyed the society of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa peoples. The legacy of conflict goes back to its Belgian colonization that led to experiences of ‘divide and rule’, breaking social cohesion, institutionalizing violence and impunity, giving rise to extreme poverty and fiefdom. Women and minorities remained marginalized. In the aftermath of 1994, millions were driven to exile if they survived.
What we do not know very well is how the people of Rwanda put their lives together after the genocide. The country embarked on a National Unity and Reconciliation process. Umuganda, the traditional practice of community work, became the a major drive for State policy initiatives—despite differences, all members of the umudugudu (village) would come together on a particular Saturday in a month to do ‘social work’ (all too familiar to Naga society), performing different tasks relevant to the context. It became symbolic of people building the country together.
Apart from several other policy initiatives that specifically focused on reconciliation thereby bringing innovative participatory methods, women came to play an active role in post genocide reconstruction. Women had been the worst victims of the violence, and the Government of National Unity embarked on a process to reaffirm the role of women in peacebuilding, and in prevention and resolution of conflicts.
Women came together in a shared vision, transcending political party lines to form their own conglomerates, like the Forum of Rwandan Women Parliamentarians. A Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion was set up to create gender-sensitive policies, also nurturing women councils at the grassroots that prepared them for larger political participation. A quota of 30 percent seats for women in all decision making bodies of governance was created. Women added layers to informal governance that brought communities together in safe spaces to address difficult issues—they changed inheritance and succession laws, gender based violence was legally curbed.
In 2016, women in Rwanda held 64 percent seats in the lower house of the Rwandan national legislature, a first anywhere in the world. Gender sensitive policies and power sharing, no doubt, contributed to Rwanda—one of the African Union’s smallest nation states—to not just rebuild but emerge a global leader in certain aspects.
23 years since the genocide, Rwanda is still one of the poorest countries in the world. Problems and loopholes exist at every level, as they do in Scandinavian, American or Asian countries. But through deliberate and self determining policies of unity, reconciliation and inclusion, Rwanda has changed its extremely difficult circumstances to create a safe nation where social groups work together in advancing the aspirations of the people. Travel and tourism naturally flourish in this environment.
More reflections may be sent to moitramail@yahoo.com
