Establishment of the Role of Development Projects on Women Empowerment in Rwanda Case of Funding Leadership and Opportunities for Women Project

Abstract

In any society, women should play a central role in shaping future generations, physiologically, emotionally, morally, spiritually and intellectually. But, when women are poor and not empowered, they are not free and their choices are limited and so, are unable to perform this central role, a failure which has dire of consequences for future generations. Government of Rwanda has invested considerable efforts to break the cycle of poverty, ignorance and vulnerability among women, by empowering them socially, politically and economically. However, women still constitute the majority of the poor with about 47% of women-headed household poor, compared to the 44% average for all poor households. Women also still face a gap of limited skills and capacity for employability, which reduces their employment and income opportunities. This study aimed at assessing the role of development projects on empowering women. The study employed descriptive cross-sectional study as the research design using quantitative data. The target population for the study included women at Kibirizi sector who were beneficiaries of FLOW project. A sample size of 103 women and group leaders were obtained using random sampling and purposive sampling technique respectively. The study relied on primary data which was collected using questionnaires. Data collected was edited and then analyzed using SPSS and presented in form of tables, bar graphs and pie charts. Correlation analysis indicated a positive and significant relationship between making decision, training, financial access and women empowerment (.240^*, p<0.05) (.579^**p<0.001), (.355^**, p<0.05).