Empowering Rwandan Women Through the HER Project: A Conversation with Solange Impanoyimana of Generation Rise Rwanda

Kigali, Rwanda — The HER Project is a one-year initiative developed by Generation Rise – Rwanda to support young women—particularly teen mothers, school dropouts, and female heads of households—to regain confidence, build essential life and vocational skills, and access practical pathways to economic independence. In partnership with Be That Girl Foundation, the project works to ensure that these young women receive the holistic support they need to transform their lives.

Operating in Bugesera District the program combines personal development, technical training, mentorship, and real-world practice through strong partnerships with local government, training institutions, and private sector actors.

To discuss the vision, design, and goals of HER, Trizah Gakwa from Be That Girl Foundation spoke with Solange Impanoyimana, Executive Director of Generation Rise Rwanda, about why this project matters, how it will work in practice, and what change it aims to achieve for Rwanda’s young women and their communities.

Trizah Gakwa: Solange, thank you for speaking with me. For someone hearing about it for the first time, what is the HER Project, and where will it take place?

Solange Impanoyimana: HER is a one-year program for young women who’ve had their education cut short or taken on adult responsibilities early—teen mothers, girls who left school, and young women heading households. It blends personal development, practical life skills, vocational skills that match local demand, and real-world practice. The first cohort will run in Bugesera district in Eastern Province.

Trizah Gakwa: Before we get into the details, help us understand why this work matters so deeply right now. What makes it so urgent?

Solange Impanoyimana: The numbers tell a hard story. Nearly 40% of Rwandans live below the poverty line, and Rwanda ranks 161 out of 193 on the 2024 UN Human Development Index. Among 16–30-year-olds, only 4.5% of women—and 5.4% of men—are in higher education according to the 2019/2020 national household survey. Teenage pregnancy still drives dropout and stigma. About 28.9% of households are female-headed, which often means young women carry both economic and caregiving burdens with limited support. Add thin access to mentorship and life skills, and you get a cycle that’s very hard to break. HER is designed to interrupt that cycle.

Trizah Gakwa: Why did Generation Rise choose to begin specifically in Bugesera Districts?

Solange Impanoyimana: Both districts have actively confronted teen pregnancy and dropout but still face the consequences. In Bugesera, local authorities and civil society have run large awareness efforts—one campaign engaged about 1,200 students at Groupe Scolaire Kamabuye on child protection, teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and sexual and reproductive health—yet stigma and dropout remain. 

Bugesera is among the touristic districts and we want to ensure that girls and young women from its rural communities are well-prepared to seize the growing economic opportunities emerging in the area. Bugesera is on the path of becoming one of Rwanda’s leading destinations for tourism and hospitality, driven by major infrastructure developments such as the Bugesera International Airport and the largest economic and industry zone. Although the airport’s first phase—originally planned for completion in 2026 has recently been delayed to 2028, the project continues to attract significant investments from both local and international which stimulate the growth of complementary sectors, including hotels, restaurants, and leisure services. As Bugesera evolves into a hub of economic activity and international travel, HER graduates will not only be among the first to access new employment and business opportunities, but also play a central role in shaping Rwanda’s reputation for excellence in hospitality and service delivery to both national and international clients.

Trizah Gakwa: Who will take part in this first phase of HER, and how will participants be selected?

Solange Impanoyimana: We’ll work with 120 women aged 16–30—120 in Bugesera. The first cohort includes 40 school leavers, 60 teen mothers, and 20 young female heads of household. Selection will be transparent, based on clear economic and living-standard criteria, and done with district authorities and community leaders from the outset.

Trizah Gakwa: Could you walk us through what the year will look like—from the very first day to the end of the program?

Solange Impanoyimana: The program runs in five linked phases, with participants at the center.

First is community engagement and formative assessment. We agree on selection criteria, collect a baseline—confidence, knowledge, and current income or schooling—consult with local stakeholders, map internship and practice partners, finalize the timeline and management tools, and complete a risk and conflict-sensitivity analysis. We then launch with a full orientation.

Second is personal development and life skills. This is “laying the foundation”: self-reflection and self-awareness; confidence and public speaking; clear communication and decision-making; leadership basics; time and money management; and accurate information about health and sexual and reproductive health. A professional counselor is part of the team so emotional needs are addressed alongside skills.

Third is technical and vocational skills. We focus on practical options that are locally relevant—housekeeping and Laundry operation, culinary art , Food and Beverage operations, soapmaking, hairdressing—and pair these with financial literacy, customer care, pricing, budgeting, saving, and simple entrepreneurship. If a participant doesn’t select or qualify for a technical track, we connect her to financial institutions that specifically support women’s economic growth and microcredit.

Fourth is internships and real-world practice. Participants apply skills through short placements, apprenticeships, or market-day practice. We use a simple performance framework, conduct check-ins, and plan district-level career events so competence is visible beyond the classroom.

Fifth is advocacy, knowledge sharing, and evaluation. We collect short impact stories, run a participatory evaluation that asks “what changed and why,” and produce a Knowledge Product that captures lessons and successes for partners and future cohorts.

Trizah Gakwa: By the end of that journey, what kinds of changes do you hope participants and their communities will see?

Solange Impanoyimana: We aim for four outcomes. First, stronger life and personal development skills—confidence, self-esteem, self-awareness, health literacy including SRH, leadership, and resilience—so women experience a renewed sense of dignity and self-worth. Second, increased employability knowledge in selected income-generating skills, plus financial literacy, time management, and entrepreneurship to support marketability and independence. Third, demonstrated competence through hands-on practice so training translates to real work. Fourth, improved community acceptance and more inclusive environments for girls and women who’ve been out of school.

Trizah Gakwa: Many development programs can feel heavy on paperwork and reporting. How will HER track progress in a way that still feels personal and empowering for participants?

Solange Impanoyimana: We keep it light and consistent. The baseline records confidence, knowledge, and current income or schooling. During the year we monitor sessions and practical assignments. At the endline we repeat the same short tools to see movement clearly. The participatory evaluation adds context and explanation, and we document in formats that are respondent friendly. Learning is built in, not tacked on.

Trizah Gakwa: Generation Rise already has a strong track record. What experience and lessons are you bringing into the HER Project?

Solange Impanoyimana: Generation Rise was created to address the imbalance of opportunity between young women and men. Our programs build life skills, leadership, entrepreneurship, and effective communication. We’ve enrolled more than 400 girls, with around 3,000 parents engaged as allies. Approximately 80% of participants have completed high school, compared to a national completion rate near 33%, and 95% of our alumni would recommend our programs. Those results come from facilitators rooted in their communities and a very practical approach.

Trizah Gakwa: Who will participants interact with most closely during the program? What does the team behind HER look like?

Solange Impanoyimana: The team is stable and named. I oversee implementation, quality assurance, and strategic relationships. Pacifique Kagubare leads curriculum and pedagogy. Egije Niyigena manages project finances, with board oversight from Jeanne Mutezinkindi. Constantine Uwiringiyimana is the youth engagement facilitator overseeing the life-skills curriculum. Annonciata Niyibizi is our lead trainer and a professional counselor. Our community facilitators and trainers are Angelique Usanase, Assoumpta Uwanyiligira, Emelence Hashimwimana, Germaine Ncungukazi, and Uwase Jessica. We’re recruiting a part-time Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning specialist and two module instructors for specific technical content.

Trizah Gakwa: Partnerships seem central to this work. Who are your key collaborators, and what roles will they play?

Solange Impanoyimana: We value partnerships because collaboration increases buy-in, impact, and sustainability. The Rwanda TVET Board is a key partner for technical skills, curriculum adaptation, and certification, and they help identify strong training schools. District authorities support selection, community convening, project launch, monitoring, and identifying additional economic-empowerment opportunities. Civil society and community-based organizations help with feedback and complementary programming. We’ve also engaged various programs accelerators such as Inkomoko—which supports micro and small entrepreneurs and can connect graduates to business networks—DOT Rwanda, which accelerates digital inclusion and youth innovation, and the Business Professionals Network (BPN), which helps us identify businesses for placements and practice exposure. Together these actors help ensure the pathway from skills to opportunity is real.

Trizah Gakwa: Sustainability can mean many things. How does HER make sure the change it creates will last?

Solange Impanoyimana: For us, sustainability is twofold: mindset and systems. Mindset means women leave with transferable skills and the confidence to use them—budgeting, pricing, saving, customer care, decision-making—plus a support network that remains after graduation. Systems means institutional partnerships at community and district levels so opportunities continue. We also embed conflict-sensitivity protocols and an environmental policy framework so our methods are responsible for both people and planet. The goal is that HER strengthens local capacity as it delivers results for participants.

Trizah Gakwa: Evaluation and learning are built into your approach. How will you use them to strengthen HER as it evolves?

Solange Impanoyimana: We finalize the evaluation plan during the preparation phase. It blends qualitative and quantitative tools—needs assessments, session monitoring, rapid surveys, and performance assessments—alongside baseline and endline comparisons and the participatory evaluation. We emphasize reflection and flexibility for course correction; learning is mainstreamed, not added at the end. Findings inform the logical framework with goals, objectives, outputs, indicators, means of verification, and tools, and are summarized in the Knowledge Product to guide partners and future cohorts.

Trizah Gakwa: Looking beyond this first year, what long-term impact do you hope HER will leave behind for young women and their communities?

Solange Impanoyimana: We want each participant to leave with the agency to make her own choices and the skills to earn steadily. When she earns and decides, you see ripple effects—children return to school, households stabilize, communities recognize capability where they once saw “risk.” With the partnerships we’ve built and the evidence we’ll generate, we hope HER becomes a practical model that can be adapted and scaled to keep opening doors for more women across Rwanda.

Trizah Gakwa: Thank you, Solange. We’ll be watching—and cheering—the progress.

Solange Impanoyimana: Thank you, Trizah.

Conclusion

The HER Project represents more than a skills program; it is a structured pathway for young women to rebuild confidence, acquire employable skills, and take active roles in their households and communities. By combining personal development, technical training, mentorship, and community engagement, HER aims to create measurable change in both individual lives and collective attitudes toward vulnerable women.

Through collaboration with partners such as the Rwanda TVET Board, district authorities, civil society organizations, and the private sector, the project demonstrates how inclusive, locally led initiatives can strengthen social protection and economic opportunity.

As Generation Rise Rwanda implements the pilot phase in Bugesera, the lessons and evidence gathered will serve not only to refine the model but also to inform broader strategies for women’s empowerment and sustainable community development across Rwanda.

Ultimately, HER stands as a practical commitment to a simple but powerful vision — that every young woman, regardless of her past or circumstances, has the right and the capacity to build a better tomorrow.

At Be That Girl, we are proud to support the HER Project and to help equip women from vulnerable backgrounds in Rwanda with the training and support they need to access income-generating opportunities.