Female employment in Rwanda increased by roughly 18% from 2005 to 2015. However, the proportion of females in the skilled employment sector increased by 126% during the same period. This means more women are now working in professions such as science and engineering, teaching, healthcare, and manufacturing.

To illustrate this change at the country level, we created the heat maps below which track the growth of females in skilled employment.

2005

2010

2015

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That’s at a national level, but what does this shift look like-subnationally? From 2005 to 2015, the proportion of females in skilled employment increased by:

National: 126 percent
Kigali: 54 percent
East region: 150 percent
North region: 129 percent
South region: 224 percent
West region: 140 percent

You’ll notice that in Kigali skilled employment increased by over 50 percent, while throughout the rest of the country the number doubled (and actually tripled in the south). By analyzing trends at the national and sub-national level, we can determine where more effort to boost women’s employment is needed and what type of support would be most useful.

Women’s empowerment has made great strides in Rwanda over the last decade. As we work to improve upon these trends, we can rely on localized data to focus our efforts and position us for better outcomes.