International Women’s Day

My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, and congratulate her on securing this important debate today. There are not that many women in the world of politics, but where special measures are taken women can make their voice heard. One country with a new democracy is Rwanda, which I had the privilege of visiting last summer as part of a CPA delegation. I saw what women were doing there and how they were making a difference. I met women MPs—great, feisty women who had seen so much suffering in their country and were determined that the genocide of 1994 would never happen again. Equality is written into Rwanda’s constitution, and women now play a big role in government. Rwanda is top of the league in the number of women in their Parliament—around 57 per cent. There are so many women in the Rwandan Parliament because of special mechanisms that are used to increase women’s political participation: among them a constitutional guarantee, a quota system and new electoral structures. The women’s movement mobilised actively around the framing of a constitution to ensure that equality become a cornerstone. It took account of international human rights instruments and conventions, including CEDAW, to which Rwanda is a signatory. The new constitution states a commitment to, ""ensuring equal rights between Rwandans and between women and men without prejudice to the principles of gender equality"." Rwanda’s lower House, the Chamber of Deputies, has 80 Members. Twenty-four seats are reserved for women, and these elections are co-ordinated by a national system of women’s councils. Women compete for the other seats on open lists and are elected by PR. They now hold 21 of these seats. Although the constitutional measures that have been taken in Rwanda have allowed women to play a major role, there are still great problems in the country. During my visit I learnt of the valuable work that the Department for International Development is doing to help and to work with Rwanda in a positive way. The UK Government want to help Rwanda build a more prosperous, fair and peaceful future. The UK is Rwanda’s largest bilateral donor. It has helped to reduce the percentage of people living in poverty from 70 per cent to 57 per cent. It does much other work as well. This must be a help to women. Last summer, we met Rwanda parliamentarians who told us how much they wanted to become a member of the Commonwealth. The UK Government supported the move and last November Rwanda was accepted as a member. This move will be beneficial to Rwanda and to the Commonwealth. Rwandan women are playing a great role in rebuilding their country. There is much hope and expectation. I believe that we can learn a lot from these wonderful women. If a country such as Rwanda can see how advantageous it is to promote equality and to ensure that women play a great role in the organisation of the country, I have to ask myself why Rwanda is No. 1 in the league of women parliamentarians and the Westminster Parliament is No. 60? Rwanda has 57 per cent women parliamentarians and the House of Commons has 19.5 per cent, although I have to say that if it had not been for the Labour Party introducing all-women shortlists the percentage would be even lower. Quotas, all-women shortlists and zipping work, but there is still a great reluctance by local members of political parties in this country to select women candidates unless specific measures are put in place. Today, let us praise the women of Rwanda for their courage, their determination and their endless energy, and for how they can turn a very bad situation in their country to one for the better. Perhaps, as we celebrate International Women's Day, we can all recognise that we can learn much from these great Rwandan women.