CIBITOKE / RUMONGE March 19th (ABP) – International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8th each year around the world, was celebrated on Thursday March 15th in Cibitoke (northwest) and on Wednesday March 14th in Rumonge (South West).
In Cibitoke, the day saw a large participation of women at the Murwi commune’s headquarters. The governor of Cibitoke province, Mr. Joseph Iteriteka, when congratulating women from all over the province, he called on them to contribute to the future of the country through the education of Burundian children. On her part, Ms. Jacqueline Nyavyinshi, who represented the women’s forum in Cibitoke, said that despite some gaps in the code of persons and family and the law on gender-based violence (GBV), the woman remains the pillar of family development and peace. She urged the woman to join the associative development movements and to promote the schooling of girls. The coordinator of the Center for Family and Community Development (CDFC), Ms. Gertrude Niyokindi, invited on her part women to take the lead to positively transform their lives. She congratulated women in her province for having outnumbered men for the upcoming elections. Ms. Niyokindi also appreciated the government’s efforts in favor of women’s rights and called for women to set a good example in the development sector. For a representative of the CDFC partners, a step is already being taken in the area of women’s rights in Cibitoke province, but there are still cases of battered women, cases of economic violence against women, cases of concubine behavior and polygamy, although there have been cases where women have opposed the regularization of their common-law marriages with their spouses at the civil status.
In Rumonge (west), the festivities took place at the provincial office, under the lead of the governor of the province, Mr. Juvénal Bigirimana. They began with a long parade of women executives, women’s associations and others working both in the public and private sectors to the place where the speeches were made.
The governor of Rumonge province drew the attention of the women so that the day could serve as a self-criticism on their contribution and the importance of the woman in Rumonge. He said that women are capable of many things, more than men, citing maternity and the education of children. He advised men to stop mistreating, beating their wives, stopping concubine behavior, the squandering of family patrimony, and women to denounce such behavior. He called on women to be virtuous in order to positively change men.
The representative of the women’s forum in the Rumonge province, Ms. Jeanne Ntakarutimana, noted that according to the themes of this year “Rural and urban actors, together transform the lives of women”, the woman in Rumonge province did not stay behind. According to her, in their diversity, women work for development. She expressed confidence that this goal will be achieved until the next celebration of the day in 2019. To do this better, she asked for the support from the men. The former must keep in mind the development of oneself, their neighbor and the country. They must also work hard to achieve this, because men will not provide them all on a platter, she advised.
Ms. Ntakarutimana urged men to associate with women in the management of households’ economic assets, without forgetting to safeguard peace and unity and to respond massively to the referendum vote of the Constitution in May 2018.