{"id":18356,"date":"2026-06-04T16:41:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T14:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/actionaid.ch\/?p=18356"},"modified":"2026-06-05T12:32:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T10:32:24","slug":"the-land-of-a-thousand-hills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/actionaid.ch\/en\/the-land-of-a-thousand-hills\/","title":{"rendered":"The Land of a Thousand Hills"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"vidiemme-block basic-editor  \" >\n  \n  <div class=\"container-xl\">\n    <p>Rwanda is known as the \u201cLand of a Thousand Hills,\u201d a lush and verdant country in the heart of Africa. Its <strong>hills once provided refuge for displaced people and, more than 30 years ago, witnessed one of the largest mass exoduses in history<\/strong>, as thousands fled in an attempt to survive the genocide.<\/p>\n<p>This is why Rwanda is a <strong>young country<\/strong>, with a median age of around 20 years, and one where<strong> women make up the majority of the population.<\/strong> The 1994 genocide wiped out a generation of men, leaving thousands of orphans to care for their younger siblings.<\/p>\n<p>It was largely <strong>women who rebuilt the social and economic fabric that enabled the country to recover<\/strong>. That is why they are at the heart of our work, and why <strong>gender equality<\/strong> is one of our key priorities.<\/p>\n<p>We believe that <strong>where women are respected, violence loses<\/strong>. Communities that recognize the role of women in family and community life have greater opportunities to create positive change and achieve well-being and stability.<\/p>\n<p>In the <strong>Ngororero District<\/strong>, we are implementing several projects aimed at helping <strong>women become more independent, empowered, and resilient.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>we have built <strong>water tanks<\/strong>, enabling women to avoid long journeys to distant wells and reducing their risk of experiencing violence along the way.<\/li>\n<li>we have established <strong>childcare centres<\/strong> so that mothers can work without worrying about their children.<\/li>\n<li>we have distributed <strong>hundreds of energy-efficient stoves<\/strong>, reducing the need to collect fuel and easing the burden of household work.<\/li>\n<li>we have provided <strong>livestock<\/strong>, helping families access milk and improve agricultural productivity through the use of manure as fertilizer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We have also supported couples facing difficulties in <strong>officially registering their marriages<\/strong>. Especially in rural communities, it is common for unions to exist only under traditional or religious customs, without legal recognition by the State. <strong>Legalizing a marriage<\/strong> has significant consequences, particularly for women, as it <strong>guarantees access to property rights<\/strong>, including land ownership and inheritance.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #ed1c24;\">In Rwanda we have also:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Renovated 3 early childhood development centres and built 4 new classrooms<\/strong>. We also constructed a basketball court, giving more than 4,600 young people a safe space to play sports and socialize.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Trained 90 adolescent mothers on sexual and reproductive health education and women\u2019s rights<\/strong>. Today, they are better equipped to protect themselves and support others who wish to report violence.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Trained 600 people on environmental issues and disaster risk reduction<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Built and equipped a school canteen at Nyarutove School<\/strong>, providing a hot meal every day to around 2,000 students, who now attend school more regularly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"vidiemme-block basic-editor  \" >\n  \n  <div class=\"container-xl\">\n    <h6><em>Photocredits: ActionAid Rwanda<\/em><\/h6>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senza-categoria"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - 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