Female Representation and Development : A case study of the gender-sensitive developmental outcomes of female representation in the Rwandan parliament

The aim of this thesis is to examine the relation between women’s representation and gender-sensitive development, or women-friendly issues. This is done through a case study of Rwanda, a country that has faced rapid development and increase in women representatives in parliament which makes the country unique and useful for this study. The thesis focuses on two things, establishing a correlation between female representation and gender-sensitive development, and examining the causality between the two as well as investigating other possible factors that may have contributed to the development in Rwanda. While previous research on Rwanda focus more on the relation between female representation and democracy this thesis will focus on female representation and development. The thesis finds that there is a correlation in time between the increase in women in parliament in Rwanda and gender-sensitive development. It also establishes that the progress in Rwanda is unique in relation to other countries in the region with lower numbers of female representation. Furthermore, the thesis finds that despite arguments of gender equality being used as a disguise for authoritarianism in Rwanda, gender equality may still lead to development even if it does not lead to democracy. The thesis comes to the conclusion that two factors in particular have contributed to the progress on gender-sensitive development. First, the specific situation in post-genocide Rwanda where the population consisted of 70 percent women and the fact that women took on traditionally male roles in politics and economics. They also created the Forum of Women Parliamentarians [Forum des Femmes Rwandaises Parlementaires] (FFRP) which focused on mainstreaming gender equality into Rwandan politics and promoting women’s rights. Second, the determination of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and President Paul Kagame to include women and promote women’s rights. These factors both play a part in the great progress Rwanda has faced when it comes to gender-sensitive development. While the thesis suggest that the political process and inclusion of women in the Rwandan parliament is an important part in this progress it does not fully isolate the causality nor ignore that other factors might also have affected the outcomes. Hence, further research would have to be made to identify the mechanisms which has had the most effect for the development in Rwanda.