{The debate on Affirmative Action (AA) has been quite controversial and may have been unfairly judged or misconceived by many. AA as we know it has been around for centuries and ever since its introduction in 1960’s, it has attracted heated debates and divided opinions across the global. In past few days, I followed similar debate on one of our local private radio and the argument was whether AA is still needed in Rwanda. This debate encouraged me to add my voice to this interesting subject. Well much as I expect AA to end at one point in time but I just don't want it to end before its job is done.}

Some people were saying that time is now to end AA policies for girls and women in Rwanda. This augment tempted me to ask myself, what harm is it doing? Is it opening the floodgates to unqualified or underperforming girls or women workers at the expense of deserving males like some of people pointed out?

USA first became pro loyal to AA in 1961, when President Kennedy issued an executive order to government contracting agencies; it required them to implement AA to ensure that Black-Americans are employed, and the employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, color or national origin. This was aimed to end persistent discrimination against Black-Americans. It was since extended to include other racial minority groups, women and people living with disabilities. For instance in USA where they have used employment AA for Black-Americans, AA hires have appeared to work just as well or better on the job than white males and others who were not hired with AA in mind.

What is Affirmative Action (AA)?

AA refers to a series of policies and programmes designed to remedy or eliminate discrimination against marginalized groups including ethnic minorities, women and people living with disabilities. Its main objective is to redress or offset the effects of past discrimination. It is a deliberate action taken to give such groups priority in admissions, appointment and/or nominations to positions of responsibility. However this priority to the disadvantaged does not mean that the minimum qualifications are ignored. What it means is that if there are two or more qualified people and one of them is a member of the disadvantaged group, then priority is given to that disadvantaged person. AA can be done in three forms: a compensatory procedure to address past injustices; a corrective tool to redress present discrimination, and an intervention to promote social equality and diversity in a given society.

AA in my view is like breaking a guys leg before the race, and then you apologize and say okay lets be fair and start together equally at the starting line by either allowing him to recover prior to the race or give him a head start. It gives everyone a fighting chance. AA is just temporary measure aimed at enabling members of the disadvantaged group to participate in those areas in which they have been disadvantaged. The assumption is that at some point, when such groups have been empowered, and have acquired what is necessary to enable them to participate and compete with the others, AA then ceases to exist or is modified to suit the prevailing situation. Various countries have different forms of AA depending on the issue the country wants to redress. Some countries have started with cut off points for girls, and then modified it to picking girls over boys in the science and technology courses if their scores are tied.

While some people believe that AA policies and programmes have helped many countries to achieve fairness in society, other people regard it as discriminatory practice. Some critics have gone further to say that these policies and programmes are preferential treatment, unfairness, welfare or an object of charity scheme for women. One scholar said that both sexes are endowed equally despite the fact that someone is a lady does not mean she is not endowed academically and intellectually, as thus encouraging AA in admissions and hiring or appointing women to leadership positions perpetuates the myth that women are inferior and women who enter those positions through AA are considered inferior and sometimes called names suggesting they are below standard. However, despite all these criticisms AA has remained a commonly used short-term mechanism for eliminating gender disparities in many countries.

What is that AA Policies and Programmes have continued to be used?

“University” is an English word derived from two words- “universe” and “diversity” AA therefore insures that when I go to school I'll get a fair sample of the universe. It insures that I won't just be surrounded by only males. It forces high schools and universities to spend an equal amount of time recruiting people of all genders and encourages diversity in our universities which creates robust learning environment for everyone as the nation's future will depend on leaders trained through wide exposure to various ideas.

In the new Rwanda, AA policies and programmes have helped girls and women to advance in their careers and hence helping their families to make ends meet. This has also helped the country to produce a workplace that is far more integrated than ever before as well as expanding the talent pool of diverse workforce for employers to draw on which in turn enhances performance and productivity.

AA has given historically disadvantaged girls and women an opportunity for a better education and ultimately results in better job opportunities and a better life. In Rwanda a girl child was victimized under the expenses of a boy child due to our cultural history and beliefs. To treat both genders equally is therefore to deny a fact of life. I am not saying that we don’t have girls and women who have excelled in their careers without the support of AA policies but it is just much much harder for many.

Many critics say that AA should be based on merit, which I totally agree, but let me ask you this, "Does academic merit sound justifiable if you have two children – a boy child that had a privileged background that was fully supported since childhood and a girl child that historically under privileged? I think not! If the system does not consider the background the girl child has come from and why they earned a slightly lower score, then Rwanda would not be the home of opportunity. And I am not saying that "Accept girls with a C- average over the A+ boys!" because first of all, having a C- average implies that the student doesn't even have interest in pursuing higher education. In my view, AA is an ideal democracy and opportunity for everyone as it gives chance those who are still smart but started their life with a disadvantage.

For instance, ask yourself why in Rwanda we only have one female pilot as compared to relatively many men out there – is it because they are inheritably under privileged to join such careers. AA is therefore trying to remove the male dominancy hierarchy and all the privilege they have enjoyed to the expenses of their female counterparts for many decades now. In order to right the wrongs of our ancestors, something needed to done, not only to level the playing field for ….unworthy lazy people…but to make Rwanda a truly equality of opportunity country that every Rwanda craves to leave in.

AA is a good public policy that promotes the interests of the country, as a whole. It is sad that few people cannot see the intended purpose of it because of either ignorance or blatant disregard to the fact that gender discrimination still does in our society. Studies carried out have indicated that increased presence of women in the police force and the criminal justice system have improved the handling of domestic violence cases and the enforcement of domestic violence laws. These changes benefit women, children and all other members of the family and community who are affected by violence in the family and entire community.

Other things being equal, diversity is a value that institutions and workplaces should aim at. The use of AA in admission policies has led to significant increases in diversity in many predominantly male dominated careers in Rwanda. The proportion of girls joining such careers has increased and this trend represents an opening of formerly closed pathways over the last decades for girls. This in turn has enlarged the overall talent pool.

Why do women and girl’s still lag behind in Rwanda despite the AA?

Despite AA, it a reality that, Rwandan women and girls still lag behind in many aspects due to negative cultural attitudes and failures. The percentage of girls dropping out of school in both primary and secondary schools is still high, standing at 10% in 2012, while the majority of women (81%) are engaged in subsistence farming. As girls drop out of school, boys continue with their education hence leaving women to lag behind.

Gender stereotyping issues are still deeply rooted in Rwandan society and women remain disproportionately clustered in traditionally jobs and gender imbalances still exists in science and technology courses offered by higher learning institutions of Rwanda. Women remain under-represented in most of non-traditional professional occupations as well as blue collar formal trades. Sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, continues to be another barrier to the advancement of gender equality.

Because of cultural aspects men still think women should only take care of the home; cook, dig and also nurture children which should not be the case. Some still believe that women should not participate in politics or aspire for top positions in the Government. Majority women do not have same control over land like their male counterparts to practice large scale farming. When it comes to selling the produce, their husbands take the final decision and in the process exploit the women.

Many women still bear the burden of disease in their homes. This is because whenever a family member is sick, it is the woman who takes care of them implying that she cannot get time to run any business. They engage in informal small-scale businesses like selling tomatoes among others which can only earn them a daily income.

Other barriers like structural/institutional barriers, male domination in many roles, heavy domestic workloads and reproductive roles; lack of self-esteem, sufficient qualifications as well as knowledge about gender and its effect on career development have continued to prevent women from achieving their full potential.

Why We Still Need AA & When will it stop?

AA programs have played a critical role in opening up opportunities for girls and women to begin to take their rightful place in our society. But equal opportunity for women is still a long way off. Eliminating or curtailing AA would not only halt the forward progress that girls and women have been able to achieve but would also mark a giant leap backward in this Rwanda's journey toward equal opportunity for all. Much as AA policies and programmes will cease to exist at some stage in future, it must end when Rwanda has reached a critical mass of women and girls to satisfy the goal of diversity?, and at this moment I tend to think that we are nowhere near that point.

In a situation where Rwanda majority female headed household are very poor as compared to men, when women’s illiterate rate is still high (23%) as compared to that of men (18%), as well as under-representation of girls in science and TVET courses among others, it is unfortunate, short sighted and indeed pre-mature to start augment to remove AA policies and programs. What we should do instead is to continue work out good policies that will narrow these gaps even further between men and women, boys and girls.

Does AA lead to laziness, incompetence or inferiority complex among girls and women?

For instance a country like Uganda where they have 1.5 point cut off point for female students joining the university. 1.5 out 20 or 25 minimum points eligible for someone to join the university is not something female can rely on and go back, fold their hands, sit and relax, however, it is something that stimulates girls to work even more harder.

Cut off points or quotas should not cause inferiority complex to women and girls like some people believe, but instead acts as an encouragement or motivating factor for them to work hard to realize their potentials. It should be viewed as a given chance – a stepping stone for them to go and achieve their goals. In other words it’s a way to open up their eyes, that there is so much to achieve. It should encourage them to walk with their head held high, knowing that they have values already attached to them by the government before even they have made their own efforts. The ugly truth you cannot deny is “empowering a woman is empowering a nation”. AA does not only support under privileged, but rather benefits the entire society in general.

AA is therefore there to level the playing field – treat equals with equals, but when people have been un equal for some period of time due to systems and circumstances that have disproportionally impacted one segment of society that has not disproportionally impacted on another society, then we need to acknowledge this fact, that is what AA is all about. It ensures that opportunities and systems to excel together as a society are provided until we reach an equilibrium level where we shall no longer need these kinds of AA for anybody.

In conclusion, laws alone are not enough to level the playing field to make a big difference, like many other countries, Rwanda needed some others ways to measure and prevent all sorts of imbalances and AA therefore is better than nothing. AA is a good policy, when properly implemented, because it does not impose quotas or discriminatory but is simply there to ensure equal access to all, create diversity, correct inherent biases, and balance things out better so as to amend wrongs done in the past.
Without AA, there would be too much discrimination, making conditions a lot less gratifying for all Rwandans. Ending AA now does not cut ice but instead can continue to make the wealthy, wealthy and the poor, poor, since they do not have the same opportunities to get the basic needs.

AA is not merely a corrective for past brutality, imbalances and present prejudice but also a way of ensuring that the Rwandan dream is available to all. Having positive discrimination for women and the other socially excluded including the youth, the physically challenged is about justice and justice must be seen to be done. It is through AA and its various verifiable re-viewable instruments.

Rwanda has come a long way in terms of gender equality and fair justice for all, but have we come fine that we no longer need AA. My opinion is, as long as we still have inequalities among society, poor gender equality mind set, gender based violence, among others. In my opinion, we are not there yet, we might be there may be in next one to two decades or so but not yet. I look forward to that day and when that day comes, Rwanda dream to become a middle income and true democratic nation that give equal and equitable opportunities to all.

Alex Twahirwa
Gender Technical Adviser
MIGEPROF