Do not treat Rwanda as though we are second-class citizens

THIRTY years ago today, the genocide against the Tutsi was unleashed. One million people were murdered in 100 days as the world stood and watched.

The slaughter was only halted when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) fought their way into the capital and overthrew the genocidal government. Then began the process of putting our country back together.

This long, hard journey has been successful – and now Rwanda is undeniably “a safe country”.

One of the most critical components of our reconciliation work was putting women’s empowerment at the heart of everything we did. This was, in part, driven by necessity, but much more significantly, it was the embodiment of our desire to build a country that would allow all Rwandans to thrive.

After July 4 1994, when Rwanda was liberated and the killings halted, about 70 per cent of Rwanda’s population was female.

The country introduced Gacaca tribunals – a traditional form of justice – as a means to deal with the vast amount of genocide cases. Local communities elected Inyangamugayo (people of integrity) as judges to hear the trials of genocide perpetrators. Over a third of these judges were women, demonstrating the new Rwanda’s commitment to put gender equality at its heart.

This court system was hugely successful, trying 1.2 million perpetrators and settling 1,958,634 cases at a cost of $46-$65 million (£36.4-£51.4 million). This proved to be hugely more efficient than the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, established by the UN, which heard just 75 cases at a cost of $1 billion.

Over the past 30 years, progress on gender equality has spanned every area of society and Rwanda now ranks 12th on the global gender gap index. This commitment is enshrined in law with a 2015 amendment providing for “equal rights between Rwandans and between women and men.”

This progress hasn’t been by chance. It’s been achieved because of the decisions we’ve taken. For example, we created a constitutional provision which stipulates that a minimum of 30 per cent of positions on decisionmaking bodies must be held by women – but we often far exceed this minimum. Women currently make up 45 per cent of cabinet positions and 61 per cent of the seats in parliament.

All of this progress has been led from the very top of government. Paul Kagame, the president, said: “Ensuring gender equality is not just a moral issue, it is a rights issue, and it is a shared responsibility that concerns every member of our society.”

This commitment to women’s rights has created a safe environment not only for female Rwandans but for women travellers. A BBC report last year deemed Rwanda to be the second safest country in the world for solo female travellers.

In the febrile debate over the UK’s Safety of Rwanda Bill there have been many baseless accusations, mostly by people who have never set foot in our country. Critics on the Left conveniently ignore our progress in advancing the rights of women, just as they gloss over the huge strides we’ve made in advancing the right to life (life expectancy has increased from 39 to 69 over the past 30 years).

Rwanda is by no means perfect. But we’ve built a new, better Rwanda and anyone who comes here is afforded the same protection and guarantees as our people. Rwanda is, undeniably, a safe country for all.