Rwanda

Women

Rwanda ranks 92 out of 162 countries in the Gender Inequality Index, where a high rank equals high equality. Women should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though.

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Children

Rwanda has a Workplace Index score of 4.7, a Marketplace Index score of 5.2 and a Community and Environment Index score of 4.3 in the Children’s Rights and Business Atlas, where countries receive scores between 0 and 10. A score closer to 0 reflects a need for basic children’s rights due diligence, while a higher score reflects a need for enhanced or heightened due diligence. Children should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though. 

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Persons with Disabilities

Due to differences in data collection and definitions it is difficult to compare countries on disability prevalence rates. Persons with disabilities should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though.

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Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

According to the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, ethnic and indigenous communities in Rwanda include Hutus, Tutsis and Twa (Batwa). Populations of these groups have been estimated previously to be: Hutus (84 %), Tutsis (15 %) and Twa (Batwa) (around 0.3 %). As part of government policy to promote reconciliation, unity and social cohesion by rejecting ethnic classifications, the 2012 population census did not take into account the ethnic composition of the population. From April to June 1994 Rwanda witnessed the most extensive genocide the world had seen in fifty years. Most of the country’s minority Tutsi population, along with Twa and moderate Hutus – as many as 800,000 to one million people – were systematically massacred by compatriots loyal to the country’s then-ruling political party and other extreme Hutu groupings. The genocide was the appalling climax to long-standing political conflicts exacerbated by economic decline and pressure on the land. Conflict between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda arose despite a common heritage and a long history of at least comparatively peaceful coexistence, with intermarriage and mobility between the groups quite common. Hutus and Tutsis share a common language and to a considerable extent a common culture. The standard (if disputed) conception of pre-colonial Rwanda, in which Tutsi pastoralists moved from the north to rule over Hutu agriculturalists four hundred years ago, does little to illuminate the complex hierarchies and regional variations within traditional Rwandan society. Undoubtedly, however, Tutsis were in a dominant position, owning most of the land as well as cattle, and developing an ideology of supremacy which reinforced their position. All Rwandans are acutely affected by the tensions in the country and region, whether as minorities or majorities, oppressors or oppressed. The destinies of Rwandans remain intertwined. 

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Migrant Workers​

According to the ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers, migrant workers as a proportion of all workers is 3 % in the subregion Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Persons in Armed Conflict

Rwanda ranks 39 out of 179 countries in the Fragile States Index, where a high rank equals high fragility. For monthly crisis updates, check out CrisisWatch.