Meet Mary Balikungeri, the Director and Founder of Rwanda Women’s Network. Mary has made it her life’s mission to end gender based violence in Rwanda by empowering victims to heal and transform into independent, influential leaders in their communities.

Born in Rwanda, Mary was only 6 when the war against the Tutsi began and her family was forced to immigrate to Uganda. Growing up as a refugee she experienced injustice, but says she also got opportunities others didn’t, like getting an education.

Hearing the stories of the unspeakable violence towards women during the genocide against the Tutsi, Mary felt she had to act and offer women opportunities like she had. In 1995 She came back to Rwanda and founded Rwanda Women’s Network. Mary created safe spaces for women, victims of Gender Based Violence, who simply had nowhere to go. She wanted to give them an opportunity to heal, and from day one made sure safe spaces were also places where women come together to create a new future for themselves. She did that by offering financial education and leadership skill development in all the programs run by Rwanda Women’s Network. “When women are economically viable, they are able to deal with issues of violence, they are able to feed themselves, take care of their family, they won't stick with violence” she says.

In her humble manner and inspiring spirit, Mary is working tirelessly to bring the vision of Rwanda Women’s Network to life. She has empowered thousands of women to break the cycle of violence, encouraging them to take on leadership roles in their communities and amplify their voices.

Another big part of Mary’s work focuses on advocacy. Through her leadership Rwanda Women’s Network is strengthening the collaboration between local authorities and community facilitators. This partnership ensures long term sustainability and ownership of acts towards the eradication of Gender Based Violence in local communities. Mary is also active on the national level, advocating for policy changes in the UN Sustainable Development goals forum (SDG5 - Gender equality). Her work is giving women opportunities to meaningfully engage in a bid to strengthen grassroot solidarity and collective action planning.

Mary’s activism for social change extends to the international level. She is currently the Chairperson of the African Network of Women Shelters (ANWS), an affiliate of the Global Network of Women Shelters (GNWS) in which she serves as the representative board member of the Huairou Commission and a member of the UN Women VAW – Peace and Security Reference Team. Mary’s work widely has informed the gender equality and women’s human rights agenda at national, regional and international platforms. These include Profemmes Twese Hamwe, FEMNET, and Eastern African Sub-regional Support Initiation for Advancement of Women (EASSI) and Global Network of Women Peace builders. 

In 2018 Mary was awarded by Queen Elizabeth with the ‘Point of Light’ in honor of her inspirational & exceptional acts in supporting thousands of victims of Gender based Violence. 

And she is not done.

“What keeps me inspired and continues to give me energy is when I see young women we nurtured taking leadership at the country level. I point to these women to give hope to those still struggling to find their voice. There is opportunity and I encourage every young woman to remain assertive, discover her inner potential through positivity and being an open minded thinker. I hope my story always inspires others to show that you can come from the worst situation and transform your life”.