1 Globally, women and girls bear a disproportionate share of care work that is unpaid, unrecognized and undervalued.

2 According to a recent UN Women Rwanda baseline study of unpaid care work in eight districts, on average women work around 4.1 hours per day compared to men who on average spend around 1.7 hours at work unpaid domestic and care work, particularly those in areas with limited access to regular basic services such as energy, water and sanitation.

3 According to the study, the greatest burden for rural women is finding firewood and cooking.

4 One solution is a stove known as Save80, which saves up to 80% more energy than regular charcoal stoves that use small wooden sticks for cooking fuel.

5 Care work depends on women’s responsibilities in households and prevents them from working to their full potential.

6 To reduce women’s care demands, UN Women Rwanda distributed energy efficiency kits to more than 300 households in the Nyange, Rwaza, Kimonyi, Muko and Kinigi sectors of Musanze district and to 472 households in Rubavu.

7 This was made possible by the UN Women 3R (Recognize, Reduce and Redistribute) project on unpaid care work in partnership with the Rwanda Development Organization (RDO) and the Institut Africain pour le Development Economique et Social (INADES).

8 The kits, valued at 40,000,000 Rwandan francs ($40,000), included improved cookstoves, heat retention cookers, a food container known as a ‘wonderbox’ that keeps food warm all day, sprinklers, water, collection boxes and motorcycles, and distributed to 472 cooperative members in Rubavu district and 300 members in Musanze.

9 The trimotors will help transport vegetable production from farm to market, ultimately reducing housework, conserving natural resources and saving cooking time for women who already spent a lot of time on housework.

10 UN Women’s Country Representative in Rwanda, Ms. Jennet Kem, thanked UN Women’s partners in Rwanda and the Government of Rwanda for her unwavering support.

11 “We hope that the kits will be used to improve their well-being.

12 We encourage them to work together, save, invest and raise awareness to encourage other members of the community to join cooperatives for collective profit,” said Ms. Kem. Marie Louise Mukamanzi, a mother of seven children, was very happy to receive the energy efficient stove and the wonderful box that keeps food warm for her children when they come home from school without her reheating it.

13 “I am happy to receive the stove because it will reduce the long hours I spend looking for firewood and cooking,” she Mukamanzi said.

14 Musanze District Mayor Janvier Ramuli, while officiating the distribution event, applauded UN Women and RDO for developing such a project that will help women with the burden of collecting firewood and cooking for long hours and at the same time time, cutting down trees for firewood, which causes climate change and other climatic stressors.

15 Mr. Ramuli applauded the project’s approach to supporting women in having more time to think and engage in income-generating activities to support their families.

16 “In Musanze alone, 316 families received energy efficiency kits and another 65 families will receive water tanks per family.

17 This will empower women by removing impediments to their economic empowerment,” said Diana Mugwaneza, Program Officer, RDO.

18 Nturanyenaba Consolee from Nyakiriba, Rubavu District, who was widowed 32 years ago and lives with a permanent disability and visual impairment due to a fatal car accident, told us that it was difficult for her to collect firewood and fetch water.

19 “The energy kits come as a solution and relief for me in my old age and limited resources, thanks to the support of UN Women,” she said.

20 Iyandereye Clarisse, president of the Kobinya cooperative in Nyakiriba, Rubavu district, expressed her gratitude and that of the members who received the stoves, saying, “Now I will be able to attend cooperative meetings and programs thanks to the time saved.” Tess Kazuba, coordinator of the 3R program, said that the energy efficiency kits are intended to reduce the time spent on unpaid care work, reduce the use of firewood, reduce conflict in families and improve family relationships and improve the state of the means of subsistence.

21 “Some men also received energy efficiency kits to be ambassadors of the change in mindset that home care work is not only for women, but that men should also support their partners and recognize the hard work they endure,” he said.

23 Unpaid care work is funded by the Canadian High Commission and implemented in 8 districts of Musanze, Muhanga, Rubavu, Kirehe, Ngoma, Gasabo, Nyaruguru and Nyarugenge.

24 Beneficiaries of the energy saving kits include those living with disabilities in vegetable production in Rubavu district, which has a large number (80%) of women in cross-border trade.

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