MenCare Rwanda partner, the Rwanda Men’s Resource Center (RWAMREC) held a national celebration event in Kigali to mark the completion of the country’s MenCare+ project on February 4, 2016. The event highlighted key achievements over the project’s three years of implementation, with presentations by RWAMREC, Equimundo, and the Embassy of the Netherlands.
Approximately 75 attendees joined the event, including government representatives, local and international NGOs, and Rwandan media outlets, to learn about project outcomes and participate in discussions.
A participant from the MenCare+ young women’s group in Rwamagana shared a poem she wrote as a result of the program. She read the poem to the audience at the celebration, looking back at past inequalities and painting a picture of a bright and equal future. She declared:
Let us build the foundation
For tomorrow’s generations
Learn from our past experience
The future is bright
The secret is none but gender equality
MenCare+ is an integrated, gender-transformative initiative in Rwanda, Indonesia, Brazil, and South Africa to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights and maternal, newborn, and child health; to promote gender equality; and to prevent violence. MenCare+ is coordinated by Rutgers and Equimundo, and it is funded by the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs.