Rwanda Bar Association (RBA) has expressed its commitment to improving the standard of women lawyers in Rwanda, as a way to boost their inclusion in the legal profession.
The meant standard improvement includes putting in place monitoring programs for young women lawyers and tackling challenges that hinder the presence of a big number of women in the legal profession in Rwanda.
“We are 100% committed to doing whatever possible to promote the inclusion and quality of women lawyers. We are eager to improve the standard of women lawyers,” said Moise Nkundabarashi, President of Rwanda Bar Association (RBA), during a meeting organized by women lawyers in honor of International Women’s Day.
The meeting which was held on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 had been organized under the theme ‘leadership as a tool of development of our society’.
“A woman is a true leader. Being successful in both home and work duties justifies her leadership automatically,” added Nkundabarashi.
Statistics from Rwanda Bar Association show that the current number of lawyers is 1440, among whom only 325 are women, that is, about 23% female presence in the legal profession.
According to Me Florida Kabasinga, who has served as a legal practitioner for over 20 years, a lot of effort is needed to fill the gap.
“I wonder why we still have this slight percentage of women inclusion in our association! We have to find out the root cause of the problem and address it. Some women lawyers have been leaving the profession, which is absurd. We need to have mentorship programs for young practitioners especially those young women, and I believe senior professionals are willing to help,” she said.
Speaking during the event, Rose Rwabuhihi, Chief Gender Monitor at Gender Monitoring Office (GMO) said: “There are persisting challenges including patriarchal mindset that affects the implementation of some policies for women inclusion for the sake of gender balance. It is everyone’s responsibility in taking action”.
