Featured photo: Plenary discussions by young learners on education policy effectiveness, credit to REDO
Right to Education and Development Organization (REDO) was created in the Nyamagabe district, Southern Province of Rwanda in 2018 to advance rights to education and development among children and young women and men.
The organization aims to promote the right to education, including basic professional knowledge development for communities focusing on children, youth, and young women. We strongly focus on supporting youth from all backgrounds in acquiring life-changing skills. For example, we recently implemented training for 200 teen mothers from different corners of the Nyamagabe district. Topics of this training included human rights and laws against GBV in Rwanda, leadership for positive change, and income-generating activities.
REDO implements its work through the following strategies:
- Creating an enabling environment for youth so they can be self-dependent and included in decision-making within their community to ensure inclusive development at local and national levels.
- Conducting assessments and landscape settings to support effective plans for youth empowerment including trainings, coaching, dialogues, exchange of experiences, best practices, and success stories.
We also work to empower and strengthen young mothers – women between 16-30 years old. The specific challenges they face include different forms of violence such as Gender Based Violence, restriction on their rights to property, and physical and emotional harassment. Critically, they also experience unpaid work and less education.
In African countries including Rwanda, women have been marginalized for a long time while also being primary caretakers. Knowing this, I decided to support and advocate for the rights and development of young women and children. Some of our primary successes include:
- Building strong relationships between teen mother and their parents, communities, and their peers.
- Seeing behavior changes of teen mothers who participate in different community work.
- Adopting a culture of dialogue within families.
- Registering teen mother’s kids in civil status.
- Teen mothers paying school fees and medical insurance for their children.
- Seeing mindset changes about gender roles and responsibilities at the household level.
- Teen mothers standing up for their rights.
- Financially self-dependent teen mothers.
Since joining MCLD, we have adopted a new approach to community-led development by engaging community members in the initiation and implementation of all organization initiatives towards community development. We look forward to more collaboration with MCLD.
Introducing Anastasie MUKAMANA
Anastasie MUKAMANA is focused on issues pertaining to children and youth.
After joining the REDO as an Executive Secretary, Anastasie found it as an opportunity to take care of children and youth, bring responses to their issues, break barriers against young women’s entrepreneurship within the community, and encourage and empower young women to enable them to take their development in their hands and fulfill their basic needs.
As a human rights champion, Anastasie fights against all forms of violence against young women to attain equality and equity within communities.