This annual report of the Women's Legal Rights Initiative (WLR) discusses best practices and reviews lessons learned, approaches, and activities that offer ideas about what works best in a given situation -- or how not to do something. This third annual report takes a broader perspective on best practices and lessons learned than previous reports did. It still focuses on WLR country program activities but considers the process used for developing the activity within each of the project's intermediate results, the need for and benefit of sound monitoring and evaluation plans, including indicators and data collection, and strategies for project management.

This report presents the findings of two consultants hired by USAID/Rwanda to carry out a gender country assessment, identify strategic recommendations for USAID/Rwanda to strengthen its and its collaborating partners' programs, and incorporate these findings into a comprehensive and practical gender action plan. The assessment, provided to strengthen the Mission's current program, also lays the groundwork for efforts to integrate gender considerations into the USAID/Rwanda Country Strategic Plan for 2002-2006. The assessment finds that the lives of many women and girls have improved as a result of USAID/Rwanda's development assistance, however the Mission does not yet analyze or address gender issues in a systematic fashion and does not yet have adequate quantitative or qualitative gender-specific information from which to appropriately design its country strategy.

In assessments conducted in October of 2004 and 2005, the Women's Legal Rights Initiative-Rwanda found that both the government of Rwanda and civil society wanted more information on activities addressing gender-based violence (GBV) throughout Rwanda, as well as collaboration among actors working in the area of GBV. This assessment seeks to address these concerns by documenting activities currently being conducted to address GBV in Rwanda, as well as any current collaborative activities and coordination. It finds that collaboration does exist in Rwanda but has been very limited in quality and quantity.

This course is designed to help judges, lawyers, and prosecutors in Rwanda acquire the requisite knowledge and skills to make gender-sensitive decisions in domestic relations cases. It aims to provide course participants with information on:

• what gender means;
• how domestic relations laws affect women and men differently;
• the basic international obligations relating to gender equity and the equality of women and men;
• how new domestic relations laws differ from custom and practice; and
• how domestic violence interferes with the rule of law in Rwandan society.

This is the seventh quarter report of the Through Our Eyes project, covering April 1 - June 30, 2009.  Through Our Eyes is implemented by the American Refugee Committee-International and its partner Communication for Change. The project uses community-generated, participatory video activities to address gender-based violence, harmful traditional practices, and related health concerns in conflict-affected settings. During the seventh quarter, progress was made on all three project objectives.

Women's Legal Rights and the Rwandan Family (16 Mar 2006 : Hotel Novetel : Kigali, RW) | Women's legal rights initiative (WLR) Rwanda | Women in development IQC | Kinyarwanda ed.: PN-ADH-914

Women's legal rights initiative (WLR)