gender inequalities at various levels and gender equality is a cornerstone to national development. This high level commitment is reflected in His Excellence the President of the Republic of Rwanda Paul Kagame’s message to the global platform on MDGs in which he observed that: “In Rwanda today, the debate is not about women’s role or whether they should be empowered or not. That is a given. For us, ensuring gender equality is not just a moral issue, it is a rights issue and it is a shared responsibility that concerns every member of our society. We have always regarded the equal participation of women in all aspects of national life, including the liberation struggle, as an indispensable contribution to the socio-economic transformation of our country”. 114. Rwanda as a state is committed to ensuring access to finance for women as part of realizing the right to sustainable development. In this regard there are various projects that are in place to aid in achieving this right. Some of these include; The Building Inclusive Financial Sector in Rwanda (BIFSIR) a UNDP program alongside other partners aiming at contributing to capacity building of various stakeholders at macro, and client levels. Hanga Umurimo initiative (Create your own job) was started in 2013 and to date 1,500 apprentices have obtained vocational training 585 of who are women. 115. Urwego Opportunity Bank implemented the mobile banking and it has since reached 36,000 subscribers 67% women. MIGEPROF statistics of July 2014 indicate that there are 836,887 women registered in Umurenge SACCOs. BPR has got a Women Guarantee Fund to boost women’s access to finance for income generating activities aiding women with no collateral and credit record to access finance. The rights over property owned by widows are protected by the Rwandan law. The Article 34 of the constitution states, every person has a right to private property, whether personal or owned in association with others. Private property, whether individually or collectively owned is inviolable. 116. The law on matrimonial regimes, succession and liberalities specifically protects the property rights of a widow. It provides that, in Page 100 of 105