CASE STUDIES/217Bank estimated that 85-95 per cent of Rwandans lived below the
threshold of absolute poverty.
Worthy of note is the major increase in the number of households
run by women: from 21.7 per cent before the genocide to 29.3 per
cent now, with peaks of 40 per cent in some districts. Their situation
is particularly disturbing in view of the profound discrimination
against women in such matters as inheritance, access to credit and
property rights. Even before the genocide, 35 per cent of women
heads of households earned less than 5,000 Rwandan francs ($17)
per month; the corresponding figure for men was 22 per cent.
In spite of a high rate of adoption of orphans (from the genocide
and AIDS deaths), there are between 95,000 and 150,000 children
without families.
In the education system, only 65 per cent of children are enrolled
in primary schools; and no more than 8 per cent in secondary schools
(Woodward, 1996).
One statistic tells the whole tragic tale: average life expectancy in
Rwanda fell from 42.3 years in 1960 to 23.1 years in 1994 (UNDP,
1997).
Beginning in 19 9 8, Rwanda is expected to repay S15 5 million per
year to its creditors - mainly the Bretton Woods institutions.
Is it right that survivors of the genocide should be forced to pay for
the arms used to commit the crime?