Rwanda – Submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women – 88th session, May 2024

The Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law (GCEFL) submits this summary report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) on Rwanda’s periodic report for the 88th CEDAW Session, May 13th – 31st, 2024.

Following the briefing to the CEDAW Committee in October 2023, on Article 16 and family law, the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law (GCEFL) respectfully submits this summary report to contribute to the analysis of Rwanda’s compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (“the Convention”). In this report, we focus on articles 1 (equality), 2 (non-discrimination), 5 (gender stereotypes), 11 (employment), and 16 (marriage and family) of the Convention, providing a general overview of discriminatory aspects related to family law and practices. The issues in this report related to economic participation, including inheritance, parental leave, and guardianship, are sourced from The World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law 2024 report on women’s economic opportunity in economies.

Rwanda does not maintain any reservations to Art. 16 of CEDAW. However, we would like to once again urge the CEDAW Committee to kindly consider granting more time and specific attention to Article 16-related matters during the Constructive Dialogues.