Rwandan womens's role in decision-making on central, local and household level.

Nine years after the genocide in Rwanda, women won 48 per cent of the seats in the parliament. In the next election of 2008 they became the most gender equal parliament in the world. But does this mean that women have received an extensive influence in decision-making in the Rwandan society? The aim with this study is to develop a deeper understanding of what role women have in decision-making at local political assemblies and in households. A field study with an ethnographical approach including interviews and observations in Rwanda was conducted in November-December 2011. Interviews with female and male farmers and urbanites were performed in order to understand their roles and responsibilities in their home. This thesis also contains a brief analysis of Rwandan women’s role in the pre-genocide society. Through a Neo-institutional approach, this thesis outlines what has contributed to women’s role today. Neo-institutionalism looks at societal changes with a holistic view and from three different aspects: the normative, cultural-cognitive and the regulative aspect. These three components of the theory are vital ingredients for a societal change to occur. My findings show that women participate in decision-making, not only on the central level, but also in local political assemblies. It also indicates that women of today partake in decision-making at the household level, earlier left to men alone. Women have also since 1999 gained equal rights by several legal regulations. My analysis shows that women’s influence in decision-making on central, local and on household level is a collateral consequence of the genocide