Rwanda

Chamber of Deputies Senate

Chamber of Deputies

Political system: Presidential-Parliamentary
Structure of parliament: Bicameral
IPU membership: Yes

Historical data on women

Data on women’s right to vote and to stand for election, the date at which the first woman entered parliament, and female Heads of State or Government

Women's suffrage

Date of independence: 1962
Year of first woman in parliament: 1981
Year of first woman speaker: 2008

Women’s right to vote

Women’s right to vote: 1961
National or local: National
Restricted or universal suffrage: Universal

Notes: Prior to independence, the Legislative Decree of Rwanda - Urundi (L.D.R.U.) N° 02/269, issued by the Belgian administration of the UN Trust territory on 17 August 1961 (and first exercised in the legislative elections on 25 September 1961) granted universal suffrage to women. This right was confirmed at independence when suffrage was granted in the 1962 Constitution.

Women’s right to stand for election

Women's right to stand for election: 1961
National or local: National
Restricted or universal: Restricted
Detail of restrictions: Right to stand for election was granted for all positions except that of President (granted in 1978, in the new constitution)

Women's right to stand for election: 1978
National or local: National
Restricted or universal: Universal