“Se reconstruire” : building a feminist economy in Rwanda post-genocide

Abstract

The 1994 Rwandan genocide devastated the country’s political, economic, and social core. With around 800,000 people dead, around 60 to 70% of the surviving population were women. Just three decades after their independence from the Belgian colonial empire, the surviving women were left to reconstruct Rwanda again, and now, women represent more than 60% of their parliamentarians. However, theorists such as Briggs note that their political representation may not translate to social and economic equality. This research explores the economic implications of Rwanda’s women-led government through an examination of macroeconomic trends since the genocide.