Revised National Gender Policy 2021.

The Overall Goal of the National Gender Policy aims to improve gender equality and equity in various sectors while increasing women’s access to economic resources and opportunities; by ensuring that women and men are free from any form of gender-based violence and discrimination. Its vision of the nation will enjoy gender equality and equity towards national and sustainable transformation.
The main mission of this policy is to ensure that gender gaps across sectors are addressed through accelerating effective gender mainstreaming, gender responsive interventions, and gender accountability mechanisms in order to positioning Rwanda as a global model in promoting gender equality.
In particular, the policy aims to: 1) Strengthen the gender mainstreaming and accountability across national sector policies, planning frameworks and strategies in public and private sector; 2) Ensure equal access and control of productive resources and economic opportunities for women and men, boys and girls; 3) Improve gender equality in education, health and social protection; 4) Identify, map and address persistent cultural norms, gender stereotypes, and imbalances affecting the principles of gender equality and equity between women and men and girls and boys; 5) Ensure effective boys and men’s engagement programs and strategies in gender promotion; 6) Strengthen the mechanisms for promoting women’s participation in leadership and decision-making positions; 7) Increase knowledge on gender equality and equity in public and private sectors as well as among citizens in general; 8) Guarantee a conducive legal, policy, and institutional arrangement for the promotion of gender equality and equity.
The policy framework is structured around eight policy priority areas responding to the seven specific policy objectives as above described. The policy priority areas focus on engendering national transformation, ensure equal rights and access to economic opportunities and productive resources, eliminating negative cultural norms, stereotypes, and gender-based violence; increased and diversified mechanisms for improved ownership and gender accountability; continuous education and awareness about gender equality and equity; enforcement of laws, regulation, and supportive institutional arrangement.
This gender policy will increase the economic empowerment of women which in turn will translate into other economic benefits. Enabling conditions to be created comprise increased productive capacity of women and men through equal access and control of productive assets and resources such as land; access to financial services and products for investment; increased participation of women in entrepreneurship and business development, and active involvement in various components of the agricultural value chain. Therefore, possible economic impacts resulting from the policy actions proposed in the above regards include increased greater productivity and income of women from employment in decent, non-traditional, and highly productive economic sectors. Secondly, it is expected to have more financial inclusion especially for women resulting from more financial literacy and access to financial services and products meant to bridge the gender parity gaps in entrepreneurship, business development and investment in various sectors of the economy.