Since its launch in 2016, the annual awards have grown significantly, with the number of applicants increasing from 16 to over 150 this year. A total of 75 journalists recognised to date.

The event, which saw over 150 journalists from various media outlets in attendance, was supported by key partners such as the Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC), the Swedish Embassy, Amplify Change, the Packard Foundation, and the Generation Gender Program.

The journalists from radio, television, and online were recognised for their outstanding coverage of stories on family planning, maternal and newborn health, safe abortion, HIV/AIDS and other STIs, teen pregnancy, gender equality, and women’s empowerment, as well as sexual health and education among others.

The awards

The overall winner in each category received Rwf800,000 in cash and an HP laptop valued at Rwf900,000 laptop. The First runner-up received a monetary prize of Rwf600,000, while the second runner-up received Rwf400,000. Both the winners of the first and second runner-up positions were also granted a smartphone valued at Rwf450,000.

Television category

In the TV category, the overall winner was Aime Beaute Bushashi from RBA, recognised for her impactful story that explored the tracking of the menstrual cycle.

The first runner-up in this category was TV1’s Dieudonne Nshimiyimana, who reported on the case of a woman who was mistakenly prescribed Anti-Retroviral drugs (ARVs).

In partnership with Community Health Boosters (CHB), the O3 programme conducted a peer educator training between 4 and 22 June in four districts of Rwanda, including Kigali. Over 250 participants attended the two-week training, which equipped young individuals with essential knowledge on SRHR, teenage pregnancies, HIV prevention, consent, and GBV.

During the workshop, peer educators led impactful sessions on preventing unwanted pregnancies, debunking myths, and promoting contraceptive use, empowering their peers to make informed decisions about their health and relationships.

As part of the training, the peer educators also conducted educational sessions in local schools, as well as various citizen outreach initiatives, including Umuganda (community service) and other youth gatherings. 

One of the tools used during the workshop was the YAhealth Game, an innovative educational tool developed with UNESCO’s O3 Programme. The game made learning crucial topics like unwanted pregnancy, HIV/STI prevention, and GBV more engaging and accessible, by breaking cultural barriers and misconceptions.

One of the 253 participants who attended the training was 23-year-old David Ukurikiyeyezu. By the end of the two weeks training at the sessions in Nyanza YEGO Center, David emerged as a dedicated peer educator, ready to make a significant impact in his community. 

However, amidst the gains, there are still numerous untapped opportunities that hold the potential for further advancement. These possibilities encompass a wide range of areas, such as extending support to all adolescents (mainly in rural areas), diminishing the prevalence of unsafe abortion, and ensuring that no individual is left behind.

This was unpacked at a side event of the Women Deliver Conference 2023, on July 19, themed, “Progress, Promise, Possibilities: Past and Future of SRHR in Rwanda.”

According to Sandrine Umutoni, Director General of the Imbuto Foundation, Rwanda’s commitment to promoting gender equality can be seen in policies that ensure women’s representation at various levels of decision-making across different institutions, ranging from business to leadership and judiciary.

The same dedication extends to health initiatives, particularly those focused on women, she said.

Hassan Sibomana, Ag. Maternal, Child, and Community Health Division at Rwanda Biomedical Centre, said evidence is through the decrease in infant and maternal mortality rates among other things.

Specifically, the data shows a significant decline from 1,071 per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 203 per 100,000 live births in 2020. And, Rwanda’s infant mortality rate was 33 deaths per 1,000 live births (DHS 2019/2020 estimates), down from 107 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000.

He explained that this was particularly due to strong political commitment, improvement in the quality of antenatal care services, decentralisation of health facilities where each sector has at least one health centre, and the removal of financial barriers by introducing community-based health insurance (Mutuelle de Santé). In addition, increasing the number of health care providers in health facilities (nurses, midwives, and medical doctors), continuous capacity-building of health care providers through training, on-site training through mentorships, and increasing equipment and commodities in health facilities.

He said great progress has been made in tackling financial and geographical barriers to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and that young girls are being supplied with educational resources on the subject at various stages of schooling, among other things.