I feel so fortunate to have spent most of last week in Rwanda as a United Nations Foundation press fellow attending the Women Deliver conference on gender equality in Kigali. It’s a stunningly beautiful country and I met some unforgettable people.
While there, I had the opportunity to rub shoulders with leaders and advocates for women’s rights from around the world, and to be part of an incredible cohort of journalists supported by the UN Foundation.
During the first part of the week, we were given the opportunity to visit a UN project site focused on sexual health education and family planning in Karongi province, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. I will likely have more to say about this visit later. Rwanda is a spectacularly beautiful country filled with red clay hills covered in lush banana trees, and this region is no exception.
Check out this sunset over Lake Kivu:
One of the things I was most curious about during my visit to Rwanda is the nation’s trajectory on issues of abortion rights. Rwanda has been expanding legal abortion over the past decade or more, and in recent years, the government has released dozens of women who’d been incarcerated for abortion convictions.
I spent some time speaking to women, advocates, and doctors about how that process is going, and I’ll have more to share soon on NPR.
For now, I’m pushing through some jet lag, sorting through hours of tape, and reflecting on an unforgettable experience.
What an amazing opportunity and experience. Really looking forward to your reporting about it on NPR.
How exciting to be part of something that is heading in the right direction in our world. That picture of the unwed mother says it all. Restoring dignity.