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Different Pitches, Different Possibilities: Football

and Peacebuilding in Post-Genocide Rwanda

Kigali, Rwanda - Male and female players discuss women‟s rights after a Football Amahoro match at Esperance

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the MSc in African

Studies at the University of Oxford

Candidate Number: 293856

Word Count: 14,954

June 5, 2015

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Table of Contents

Introduction 4

I. Background 6

1.1 Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Settings 6

1.1.a Hybrid Approaches to Peacebuilding: A return to tradition? 8

1.2 Sport for Peace in Post-Conflict Settings 10

1.2.a Football for Social Change in Post-Conflict Settings 11

1.2.b FIFA and Football for Hope 13

1.3 Why Rwanda 13

II. Methodologies and Ethics 17

2.1 Methodologies 17

2.2 Ethics 19

III. Football as a Method for Peacebuilding 20

3.1 The Values of Football: from the pitch to the household 22

3.2 The Football Pitch as an Open Setting 25

IV. Football and Unity: the case of Esperance 30

4.1 “We are all Rwandans” – on the pitch, too 31

4.1.a The Government 32

4.1.b ‘Football for Social Change’ Organizations 35

4.2. Esperance in 1996: promoting unity in the face of trauma 39

V. Gender Transformation through Football 42

5.1 “Women Are Not Supposed to Play Football” 44

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5.1.a The Government 45

5.1.b ‘Football for Social Change’ Organizations 47

5.1.c Felicite and AKWOS 48

5.2 Which Spaces Actually Produce Female Empowerment? 49

VI. Conclusion 53

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Acronyms

AKWOS: Association of Kigali Women in Sports

DTA: Dream Team Academy

FERWAFA: Fédération Rwandaise de Football Association

FIFA: Fédération Intérnationale de Football Association

FSCOs: Football for Social Change Organizations

NGO: Non-governmental Organization

NURC: National Unity and Reconciliation Commission

OTI: Office of Transition Initiatives

PfH: Play for Hope

RPF: Rwandan Patriotic Front

SDP: Sport for Development and Peace

SSF: Saracens Sport Foundation

UN: United Nations

USAID: United States Agency for International Development

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“Just after the genocide against the Tutsi, people were hidden. We didn‟t know where our

loved ones were. But when we had the first football game in Amahoro Stadium, the people

came running. In those seats, people came out of hiding and realized who was still alive,

who had passed away. It was very difficult, but we were there to watch a football game –

25,000 people together cheering for the national team. In that moment, we couldn‟t say

„this is who, this is who, this is who‟. That is the power of football. Football creates

unity.”

- Jean, Ministry of Sports & Culture, 3/26/15

Introduction

Since the turn of the century, sport for development and peace (SDP) initiatives have

exploded onto the peacebuilding stage. International institutions, non-governmental

organizations (NGOs), major corporations, and many famous professional sportspersons have

championed SDP as a mechanism for collaboration and cooperation amongst divided groups

in post-conflict settings. Indeed, hundreds of new SDP initiatives have surfaced over the past

15 years, and in 2001, the United Nations (UN) created the UN Office of Sport for

Development and Peace.

SDP has been invested with great expectation and power, not only through its growth

in numbers but also the rhetoric that accompanies it. Framed as a way to inspire communities

and change lives, SDP has developed an almost mystical aura, one fueled by Nelson

Mandela‟s famous declaration: “Sport has the power to change the world…it has the power to

inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a

language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair”

(Mandela, 2000).

While SDP has grown at an unprecedented rate and subsequently become a major

component of peacebuilding, little has been done to critically evaluate the new programs. The

scholarship that supports SDP posits that sport bridges differences and promotes interaction in

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a way that little else does. But these propositions are weakly conceptualized, and they fuel a

lofty, romanticized discourse that characterizes the SDP community. In this dissertation, I

seek to complicate and nuance these surface-level analyses. Instead of accepting the general

statement that sport positively affects young people‟s lives, I aim to theorize how sport might

actually influence one‟s sensibilities in a post-conflict setting, and observe whether this

indeed takes place on the ground.

My investigation into the power of sport concentrates on football, the most popular

sport in the world. Specifically, it examines football‟s role in Rwanda‟s peacebuilding

process, paying special attention to a Rwandan „football for social change‟ organization called

Esperance. In the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, the Rwandan government „illegalized‟

ethnicity and created a number of events, conferences, and transitional justice institutions to

promote peace. A few years later, football-based initiatives were developed as alternatives to

institutional peacebuilding methods. This dissertation examines how those football initiatives

have affected Rwanda‟s peacebuilding process, focusing on two key components of

peacebuilding: unity1 and gender equality

2.

The SDP community has conceptualized football as one activity that positively

influences young people‟s lives. But there are different types of football – specifically,

different types of pitches – and only certain ones have the potential to promote peace. Based

on 22 interviews, a collection of oral histories, and participant observation, I have theorized

two causal pathways through which football can influence one‟s sensibilities – the values of

1 Both „unity‟ and „gender equality‟ are used ambiguously in the literature. Unity is conceptualized here as the

state of forming a complete and harmonious whole (Rigby, 2012; El-Battahani 2008, 1; Oxford English

Dictionary, 2015). The promotion of unity entails creating a space for interaction so that barriers can be broken

down between divided factions. 2 Gender equality is conceptualized as the state in which access to rights or opportunities is unaffected by gender

(Ni Aolain et. al. 2011, 11; Bastick, 2008; Oxford English Dictionary, 2015). On the football pitch, this means

women and men have the same access to the pitch, women and men can play together, and women can aspire to

professional and national levels in the same way as men (English 1978, 270).

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football and the football pitch as an open setting. When the values of football are reinforced

through post-match discussion, and when the football pitch is used to create an open setting

for debate about sensitive issues, football has the potential to promote peace. The key

takeaway, then, is that the type of space in which football is played determines whether the

sport can contribute to peacebuilding in Rwanda and post-conflict settings more generally.

1. Background

The key question that has motivated this dissertation is whether football can serve as

an alternative to institutional peacebuilding methods in post-genocide Rwanda. This research

speaks to a growing academic literature that investigates the effect of football on

peacebuilding in post-conflict African states. In this section, I review some of the seminal

contributions to this research program and the central debates that have emerged.

The section is divided into three parts. First, I provide a brief overview of the

peacebuilding literature, describing how peacebuilding has evolved from institutional

approaches to hybrid methods. Second, I explain how sport has become a major component of

peacebuilding in post-conflict settings. Specifically, I show how the rise of „football for social

change‟ initiatives has developed out of the SDP movement. Third, I explain why Rwanda

provides the ideal location to address questions about the „football for social change‟

movement‟s impact on peacebuilding in post-conflict settings.

1.1 Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Settings

Peacebuilding became an official part of the development apparatus‟s discourse in

1992 (Boutros-Ghali, 1992). Since then, it has generally been understood as an attempt to

“promote sustainable peace by addressing the root causes of violent conflict and supporting

indigenous capacities for peace management and conflict resolution” (UN, 2015a). Over the

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past 20 years, key players in development have created new offices to promote peacebuilding

in post-conflict states. These offices, such as USAID‟s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI),

have focused primarily on institutional barriers to peace and reconciliation3, providing

funding for “key political transition and stabilization needs” such as “security, economic

recovery, good governance, and infrastructure” (OTI, 2014; McCandless 2008, 1).

This funding has produced a proliferation of peacebuilding projects aimed at

supporting local civil societies. Stabilization mechanisms such as „disarmament,

demobilization, and reintegration‟ projects, peacekeeping forces, and power-sharing

agreements have been accompanied by transitional justice mechanisms such as truth and

reconciliation commissions and international criminal tribunals (Hanson, 2007; McCandless

2008, 4; Akhavan, 1996; Mukherjee, 2006). Despite their widespread use, these peacebuilding

initiatives have had mixed results, mostly because there has been a “chronic inability of

international actors to adapt their assistance to the political dynamics of war-torn societies”

(Tshirgi 2004, 1; Pouligny, 2005; Success in Peacekeeping, 2015; Boyce, 2004).

Ultimately, most scholars argue that institutional peacebuilding initiatives have been

deficient in reconciling, supporting, and empowering people living in post-conflict settings

(Mac Ginty 2014, 548; Pouligny 2005, 495; Tschirgi 2004, 2). They contend that institutional

peacebuilding initiatives lack nuance and context-specific solutions, often because they

neglect to include and engage with local actors (Tshirgi 2004, 1; Boyce, 2004). For instance,

in the UN‟s description of „who does peacebuilding,‟ it fails to even mention the role of the

people in whose name the peacebuilding is being done. Instead, it employs a top-down

approach that focuses on “humanitarian and development agencies,” as well as “peacekeeping

3 „Reconciliation‟ has also been used ambiguously in the literature. Here, it is conceptualized as the action of

making one view or belief compatible with the other. It can be seen as a process whose end goal is unity (Rigby,

2012; Bloomfield 2003, 12; Oxford English Dictionary, 2015).

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operations” and “special political missions” (UN, 2015b). The UN‟s failure to draw on

precisely what it claims to bolster – „indigenous capacities‟ – reflects the problems inherent to

the institutional approach to peacebuilding. But while UN-sponsored peacebuilding projects

remain the crux of most countries‟ unity and reconciliation efforts, some post-conflict

governments have sought alternative, hybrid solutions that aim to engage local actors.

1.1.a Hybrid Approaches to Peacebuilding: A return to tradition?

In the mid-1990s, post-conflict governments addressed ineffective institutional

approaches by turning to tradition-inspired, community-based forms of peacebuilding (Allen

and Macdonald, 2013; Reyntjens and Vandegiste, 2001; Nagy, 2013). These hybrid

approaches have been championed as “flexible and dynamic” processes that exploit the fact

that local societies have been “formed through interaction with modern systems over many

years” (Yamashita 2014, 2). Governments seek to use an existing connection between state

institutions and local societies to develop new, innovative forms of justice making. In doing

so, they create a hybrid system that delivers messages about unity and reconciliation in

contextually appropriate and effective ways.

The delivery of these messages through neo-traditional means is considered more

appropriate and effective because it taps into “non-western concepts of community harmony

and well-being” (Allen and Macdonald, 2013). Hybrid approaches are meant to follow a non-

western, culturally relevant epistemological order in which established customs of justice

making take center-stage (Christie et. al., 2001). Moreover, because hybrid approaches occur

at the local level, they are considered to be more efficient than formal institutional methods,

especially when used for transitional justice purposes (Allen and Macdonald, 2013; Clark,

2010). Rwanda‟s gacaca courts provide a good example. Having played the role of conflict

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resolution in pre-colonial Rwanda, the gacaca courts were revived and framed as a Rwandan

response to the search for truth and reconciliation after the genocide (Ingelaere, 2009; Clark,

2010).

Some scholars have challenged this positive view of hybrid approaches. They argue

that hybrid methods are ‟hybrid‟ in name only, as they are engulfed by state-sponsored

messages and often interfered with by public authorities (Allen and Macdonald, 2013). Others

go further and suggest that tradition-inspired forms of peacebuilding are mechanisms through

which oppressive authoritarian states can assert control over the periphery (Ingelaere, 2009;

Waldorf, 2006). While this state capture narrative has been denounced as simplistic, it is

generally accepted that states tend to meddle in these hybrid models to advance their own

agendas (Clark, 2010; Allen and Macdonald, 2013).

Ultimately, the debate surrounding the efficacy of tradition-inspired and community-

based hybrid approaches has not been settled. As Allen and Macdonald explain, “the findings

of research that has been carried out suggest that [hybrid approaches] may be helpful in some

instances, but overall results are mixed” (Allen and Macdonald 2013, 21). In recent years,

some international and local actors have sought alternative approaches to institutional and

hybrid initiatives that aim to increase interaction amongst divided populations. Certain

community and faith-based organizations have “integrated peacebuilding into existing

development projects” to bring “diverse actors in a community together” (Gerstbauer 2009, 3;

Walton, 2012). Since the turn of the century, these methods have been accompanied by an

explosion of SDP initiatives.

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1.2 Sport for Peace in Post-Conflict Settings

Over the last decade and a half, there has been a substantial increase in peacebuilding

rhetoric that concentrates on „human-based‟ approaches (Mac Ginty 2014, 549; Brewer, 2010;

Lederach, 1997; Kay, 2009; Armstrong, 2002). In particular, that rhetoric has given rise to

new SDP initiatives, which seek to “highlight commonalities and bridge cultural or ethnic

divides” amongst individuals and communities (UN 2005, 1). The basic argument is that sport

reaches areas that other peacebuilding initiatives do not, both in terms of physical location and

mental rehabilitation (Levermore 2008, 183; Kunz 2009, 1147; Lawson, 2005; Cwik, 2008;

Cárdenas, 2012). Because of its appeal and acceptance of all different types of sport, SDP has

turned into a popular movement that includes international institutions, NGOs, major

corporations, and famous professional sportspersons. Even the UN, initially the key proponent

of peacebuilding via institutional reform, has embraced sport as a mechanism for

collaboration and cooperation amongst divided groups (UN Inter-Agency 2005, 1). It has

gone so far as to create the UN Office of Sport for Development and Peace in 2001.

One example of the new SDP initiatives is the Saracens Sport Foundation (SSF),

created in 2000. Their stated goal is to “inspire communities and change lives through the

power of sport,” and they achieve this goal by offering life skills training to their participants

(SSF, 2015). With projects in South Africa, Romania, Kenya, the US, and beyond, SSF

engages with 70,000 unique participants annually. Their basic strategy is to blend sporting

activity with a structured education program, so that they encourage interaction amongst local

youth and simultaneously give them skills for the future (SSF Impact Report, 2014). SSF‟s

projects use football and rugby to promote peacebuilding, and their strategies are replicated

across most SDP initiatives.

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Despite the overwhelming support for SDP, some scholars argue that sport‟s potential

for peacebuilding is exaggerated, with a few going as far as to suggest that hostilities between

groups can manifest themselves on the pitch (Nygard and Gates, 2013; Coalter, 2010; Kay,

2009; Hartmann and Kwauk, 2011). In particular, Fred Coalter suggests that SDP is “vague

and weakly theorized,” and that there is a lack of evidence to support the “almost evangelical

policy rhetoric” of the movement (Coalter 2010, 295). Despite Coalter‟s harsh assessment,

criticism of SDP would be better characterized as caution, as most of the scholars who have

not joined the SDP bandwagon are concerned with a lack of evidence-based research

(Levermore, 2008; Rookwood and Palmer, 2011; Adams and Harris, 2014). Recently, there

has been an increase in SDP research projects, most of which concentrate on football, which

is often the most popular sport in post-conflict states. But even with this increase in academic

interest, there is indeed a need for more rigorous, evidence-based research to support the SDP

movement‟s popularity.

1.2.a Football for Social Change in Post-Conflict Settings

The proliferation of peacebuilding initiatives that leverage football has produced a

number of „football for social change‟ organizations (FSCOs) in post-conflict settings

(Nathan et. al., 2010; Sellstrom, 2010; Armstrong, 2002). Consistent with the SDP movement,

FSCOs have received widespread support from international institutions, foundations, and

companies. The basic argument is that football is an interactive and exciting game that

mobilizes people (particularly youth) regardless of their background. By bringing people

together, FSCOs are able to leverage football as a tool through which life skills can be taught

(Gilbert and Bennett, 2012; Borsani, 2012; Brown, 2014).

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Most organizations‟ life skills programs focus on two key themes: unity and gender

equality. Scholars argue football produces unity by bringing former opponents together and

teaching them lessons about „Fair Play‟, one of football‟s key values that is based on respect,

neutrality, trust, responsibility, and unity (Lambert, 2007). After playing a match of football,

program participants learn about Fair Play. In subsequent matches, they are forced to abide by

the concept. For proponents of FSCOs, this „learning by playing‟ reduces stereotypes and

“re-humanizes” former enemies (Ley and Barrio, 2012; Dienes, 2012; Lea-Howarth, 2006).

Similarly, scholars suggest football promotes gender equality by introducing girls to

female role models and “changing stereotypical perceptions” (Dienes, 2012). They argue that

FSCOs create safe environments in which girls can challenge gender norms and develop new

skills (Brown, 2014; Huggins and Randall, 2007). While gender equality is taught in the same

way as Fair Play, the literature suggests the actual act of playing football has the greatest

effect on gender equality. When girls play football, they discover a new space in which they

can “renegotiate concepts of femininity and masculinity,” and prove to their surrounding

community that they are capable of more than a domestic, submissive role (Huggins and

Randall 2007, 1). This is believed to show young people that they are equally capable as

footballers, and thus as contributors to society (O‟Brien, 2013).

However, despite the widespread support for FSCOs, some scholars have criticized

the “romanticized generalizations” about football as a tool for change (Shehu 2010, 146;

Coalter, 2010). They argue the rhetoric surrounding FSCOs is vaguely theorized, and there is

a lack of verifiable empirical research to support it (Gilbert and Bennett, 2012; Shehu, 2010).

The main problem, according to the skeptics, is that the values of football are imagined to

automatically translate to other arenas of everyday life (Shehu, 2010). Indeed, there is a gap in

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the literature that stems from a tendency to gloss over pathways of change. Researchers must

go further to understand how playing football, or participating in FSCOs, can affect one‟s

behavior both on and off the pitch. This dissertation intends to fill that gap by examining an

organization at the heart of the „football for social change‟ movement.

1.2.b FIFA and Football for Hope

Since 2009, the Fédération Intérnationale de Football Association (FIFA) has

established itself as the leader in the „football for social change‟ movement. FIFA‟s growing

presence in the SDP field stems from its decision to assign 0.7% of its total revenue to social

programs, matching the UN‟s 2005 appeal to industrialized nations to set aside the same

percentage of their gross domestic product for aid (Sellstrom, 2010; Easterly, 2014).

This massive contribution has led to the creation of FIFA‟s 20 Football for Hope

Centers. But while FIFA has made a substantial investment in these projects, its mandate for

partner NGOs that operate the centers is incredibly ambiguous. The programs are meant to

“provide children and young people with valuable tools that make a difference to their lives,

while contributing to positive social development on a global scale” (FIFA, 2015). This lofty

discourse has left a number of scholars dissatisfied, suggesting there is a need for more

concrete project goals (Shehu, 2010). More importantly, there has been a call for more

research on FIFA‟s Football for Hope Centers in order to develop a better understanding of

their impact. This dissertation directly addresses this need by analyzing one of FIFA‟s 20

Football for Hope Centers.

1.3 Why Rwanda

Rwanda is a good location to examine the effect of football on peace for two reasons.

First, the continued presence of divisions in this post-conflict setting offers an interesting

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situation through which social transformation via football can be analyzed. Second, the state

has created a number of institutional and hybrid peacebuilding methods, such as the gacaca

courts, the ingando camps, and the itorero schools (Clark, 2010; Purdekova, 2011). Rwanda

is thus unique as it offers an opportunity to compare peacebuilding through football with more

formal reconciliation projects. This section starts with a discussion of Rwanda as a post-

conflict setting. It then outlines the institutional and hybrid peacebuilding methods promoted

by the Rwandan government. Finally, it introduces the FSCO that sits at the heart of this

study.

Before discussing the 1994 genocide and the continued presence of social tensions, it

is important to outline the history behind Rwanda‟s social divide. When German and

subsequently Belgian colonizers arrived in the late 19th

and early 20th

centuries, their

preoccupation with race “led to much theorizing, romanticizing, and at times plain

fantasizing” about the differences between the three groups of people they encountered: the

Hutu, the Tutsi, and the Twa (Prunier 1995, 5). The Tutsi were recognized as „outsiders‟, or

“black Europeans,” with their “lighter skin, tall and thin frames, and sharp, angular facial

features,” causing the European colonizers to actively promote their superiority by positioning

them as monarchical rulers (Prunier 1995, 5; Newbury and Newbury 2000, 839; Chrétien,

2003; Buckley-Zistel, 2006; Jean, 2006; BBC, 2011). Gérard Prunier aptly argues that this

favoritism initiated the Tutsi “cultural ego inordinately and crushed Hutu feelings until they

coalesced into an aggressively resentful inferiority complex” (Prunier 1995, 9).

The ethnic division created by European colonizers was already violently manifesting

itself at independence in 1962, and it would gain momentum until its dramatic climax in

1994. On April 6 of that year, a plane carrying both the president of Burundi and the president

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of Rwanda (both Hutu) was shot down, killing both men and sparking a storm of ethnic

violence in Rwanda. Radical Hutu leaders advised their fellow kinsmen to exterminate their

Tutsi enemies, who, despite their many differences, were collectively classified as

„accomplices‟ (or ibyitso) of the Tutsi rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF)

(Straus, 2006; Purdekova, 2009). At the radical Hutus‟ direction, a process of ethnic cleansing

was initiated. The violence was extremely personal, with neighbors killing neighbors, entire

families murdered, and homes and businesses vandalized or burnt to the ground (Fujii, 2009;

Novogratz, 2009). In the end, at least 800,000 Rwandans were killed in 100 days – an average

of 8,000 people per day.

In the aftermath of the genocide, President Paul Kagame and the RPF regime have

formed partnerships with the international aid community, sustained economic growth, and

maintained order and stability. However, scholars argue that the regime‟s efforts to „de-

ethnicize‟ Rwanda by doing away with ethnic identity cards and making it illegal to discuss

ethnicity in public has denied space for differences amongst Rwandans, and thus may be

entrenching ethnicity‟s salience rather than disposing of it (Hintjens, 2008; Hilker, 2009;

Buckley-Zistel, 2006; Eramian, 2014). Indeed, scholars find that Rwandans who are able to

address their differences and speak openly about their feelings are more satisfied with their

reconciliation processes (Hugo and Dominus, 2014; Schraml, 2014).

To be clear, the Rwandan government has developed some space for reconciliation.

After the genocide, the government created a number of new institutions aimed at promoting

unity. Three of the main institutions carrying out this work have been the aforementioned

gacaca courts, the ingando camps, and the itorero schools. Although nearly every Rwandan

adult has taken part in gacaca, some scholars argue that the courts have deepened divisions

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and negatively impacted a reconciliation process that was occurring through cohabitation

(Rettig, 2008; Clark, 2010; Ingelaere, 2009; Reyntjens, 2013; Nagy, 2013). Not unlike

gacaca, the ingando camps were developed shortly after the genocide. These camps were

created to encourage collaboration amongst all Rwandans through history lessons, singing and

dancing, community work, and military exercises (Purdekova, 2011). The government has

depicted ingando camps as nation-building exercises that promote interaction amongst people

from different backgrounds. Finally, the government has recently instituted itorero, which

builds on the Ingando camps (Purdekova, 2014). Similar to ingando, itorero is a “homegrown

initiative inspired by Rwandan culture” that “seeks to instill moral values of integrity” in all

Rwandans (NURC, 2015).

The problem with these tradition-inspired hybrid approaches is that they occur within

a controlled setting (Ingelaere, 2009; Reyntjens, 2013; Nagy, 2013). As a result, there is

always some sort of pressure to collaborate, to follow the instructions of authority. This

makes it difficult to achieve reconciliation (Hintjens, 2008). The question that arises is

whether there are other spaces within Rwanda‟s society where that pressure disappears. This

dissertation will examine one possibility: the football pitch. Is the pitch a space where a rare

sense of ownership and individuality can be adopted in a society that is otherwise heavily

monitored? Does the pitch create a unique situation in Rwanda, one in which there are no

longer any requirements to adopt a collaborative attitude? If so, can the pitch produce more

substantial social cohesion? These are some of the central questions this dissertation

addresses.

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II. Methodologies and Ethics

The section is divided into two parts. First, I outline the methodologies used while

conducting fieldwork. Specifically, I explain the logic behind using a multidisciplinary

research methodology that encompasses semi-structured interviews, oral histories, and

participant observation. Second, I note how Rwanda‟s highly monitored society creates a

number of ethical concerns that must be carefully addressed. Before moving to the next

section, I outline the rest of the dissertation.

2.1 Methodologies

A multidisciplinary research methodology was used during a six-week visit to

Rwanda. Semi-structured interviews and participant observation were supplemented with oral

histories that shed light on two particularly important organizations. Multidisciplinarity was

employed in an attempt to triangulate findings gathered from each of the various research

methodologies.4

Kigali, Rwanda is home to one of FIFA‟s Football for Hope Centers, and it is run by

an organization called Esperance. Founded in 1996 in Kimisagara, a sector in the heart of

Kigali, Esperance was the first FSCO in Rwanda. Two more Kigali-based FSCOs, Play for

Hope and Dream Team Academy, were founded in 2009 and 2012, respectively. Esperance

remains the leader in Rwanda‟s SDP movement, and working with it thus provided the perfect

opportunity to assess football‟s potential to promote peace in Rwanda.

The fieldwork for this study was conducted over six weeks between 14 March and 24

April. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted in English, French, and

4 Triangulation is defined as “the use of multiple methods…in studying the same phenomenon for the purpose of

increasing study credibility” (Hussein 2009, 2).

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Kinyarwanda5 across various regions of the country, including Kigali City and the Northern,

Western, and Southern Provinces. Eleven interviews were conducted with staff, volunteers,

and players from various football organizations. Five more with government and NGO

officials involved in Rwandan football. Finally, six „ordinary‟ citizens were interviewed,

including a random footballer, a female rap artist, an intern at a law-firm, a filmmaker, a

football fan, and a headmaster of a school in Kigali. To maintain anonymity, pseudonyms

were devised for all interviewees.

Although time and resource constraints presented difficult decisions about who to

interview, I selected a diverse set of people, including individuals working in fields unrelated

to football. This was done because people tend to construct stories based on their own

interests (Vansina 2004, 200). Therefore, if those working in fields unrelated to football

highlight it as a method for peacebuilding, then that adds validity to the testimonies of the

football faithful.

Oral histories were conducted with the three founding members of Esperance and the

founder of the Association of Kigali Women in Sports. In their narratives, they returned to

1996 and 1997, respectively, to describe the founding of their organizations. These oral

histories were necessary because there is little documentation about the organizations‟ early

years, and both play a central role in the sections below.

Finally, I supplemented interviews and oral histories with participant observation.

Participant observation enables anthropologists to “locate themselves within the local, where

fieldwork occurs, and then relate their results and experiences to the national context”

(Ntarangwi et. al. 2006, 3). My experience as a footballer helped me tremendously. Playing in

5 My research assistant, an Esperance volunteer named Yves, translated each of the four interviews done in

Kinyarwanda.

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matches on various pitches gave me an important perspective on the subtle dynamics at play.

It also helped me make friends; I regularly joined my new teammates and opponents for post-

match drinks, helping me understand how football can influence relationships beyond the

pitch. In addition, attending state-sponsored conferences and playing football in different

types of settings brought to life the stories described in interviews.

2.2 Ethics

As a western researcher visiting Rwanda for the first time, I was operating against the

backdrop of an oppressive historical relationship between the west and Rwanda (Said, 1979;

Mudimbe, 1988). While I was warmly received by Esperance‟s members, other interviewees

and footballers were skeptical of my intentions, asking why I decided to come to Rwanda.

Once I explained my project and connected with them on the pitch, that skepticism dissipated,

but it remained an important element of my interpersonal relationships.

Rwanda is not an easy place to conduct research. Government authority is intricately

woven into the deepest webs of society, and anyone brave enough to criticize the state is

taking a risk (Hintjens, 2008; King, 2009). As a result, I had a bevy of ethical concerns. First,

I needed to ensure interviewees understood that their participation was voluntary, and that any

information provided would be kept safely at all times. Related to that, my second ethical

concern was to attain written consent from all involved. Third, I needed to ensure that

conversations about sensitive subjects were held in a safe and comfortable environment. To

that end, interviews were conducted one-on-one or only in the presence of my research

assistant. Fourth, I needed to maintain objectivity by recognizing biases formed through past

experiences on the football pitch and my western education. This objectivity is particularly

relevant when conducting ethnographic research, a process which in the past has been

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“plagued by the epistemic, ethical, and political dimensions” of researchers themselves

(Comaroff and Comaroff 2003, 152). Curtailing my own epistemic subjectivity was thus

paramount to ensuring my findings were accurate and representational. Ultimately, I have

tried to play my small role in promoting more ethical scholarship on Africa by maintaining

awareness of my subjectivities, being respectful, and triangulating my findings.

The remainder of the dissertation is structured as follows. Section 3 reviews the two

causal pathways and questions the SDP community‟s view of football as one idea or

experience. Section 4 explores the impact of different types of football on unity in Rwanda.

Section 5 examines the effect of different types of football on gender equality in Rwanda. The

final section summarizes and discusses the implications of the findings for the SDP

community.

III. Football as a Method for Peacebuilding

In the aftermath of the genocide, state-sponsored reconciliation concentrated on

transitional justice, conferences, and „solidarity camps‟ (Des Forges and Longman, 2004;

Clark, 2010; Hintjens, 2008). While gacaca courts, conferences infused with government

speeches, and ingando camps created new arenas in which adults could gather for (highly

controlled) discussions, they left little room for arguably Rwanda‟s most vulnerable and

traumatized group – the youth. As one interviewee explains, “young people wanted something

different, something new, where they could participate instead of simply listening.”6 One

young man from Kimisagara recognized this neglect for youth and decided he needed to give

his friends, siblings, and neighbors an alternative space for dialogue and interaction. He had

6 Dieudonne, Esperance Staff, 3/19/15.

21

always loved football, and he knew it would attract kids from various backgrounds. In early

1996, Esperance was born.

This section asks two key questions. First, what are the causal pathways – the

mechanisms that actually change one‟s sensibilities - that enable football to promote peace?

Second, how does the type of football setting influence the way those causal pathways

function? The section is organized in two parts, reflecting the two pathways through which

football has the potential to affect young people. First, I explore the values of football and

examine the way in which those values change based on where football matches are played.

In particular, I critically examine how Rwandan proponents of FSCOs conceptualize the

transfer of those values into daily life. Second, I explain how football is used as a magnet to

bring people from different backgrounds together. Specifically, I assess whether the act of

playing football develops a sense of camaraderie between participants, and thus creates a

forum for open discussion in what is an otherwise tightly controlled society.

In the end, I argue that the type of setting in which football is played determines its

ability to promote peace. Whether football‟s values will transfer to daily life is determined by

where the football is played and who is doing the playing. In spaces that use football as a tool

to develop familiarity, build trust, and create open discussions, there is potential to change

sensibilities both on and off the pitch. But in more traditional football settings where players

simply arrive, play, and leave, it is unlikely the values of football and any ideas associated

with peacebuilding will translate to daily life. Ultimately, the space in which football is

played – whether it is associated with norms of „Fair Play‟, has a presence of government

authority, and has a diverse set of participants – determines the type of values promoted, the

openness of discussions, and thus the production of peacebuilding.

22

3.1 The Values of Football: From the pitch to the household

Football organizations, coaches, and players alike have long championed the sport‟s

core values: teamwork, respect, discipline, and unity (FIFA, 2014; Armstrong, 2002;

Kingsley, 2008; Luginaah and Otiso, 2010). However, in recent years, some scholars have

problematized this conventional wisdom, asking whether football actually promotes

disrespect and incites divisions (Rookwood and Palmer, 2011; Garland and Rowe, 1999;

Watson, 2013). Given the persistence of hooliganism and the continued prevalence of

physical attacks on the pitch by high-profile players, such as Luis Suarez‟s biting incidents

and Zinedine Zidane‟s headbutt, this competing narrative has gained prominence. It is

important to keep in mind, however, that the way football is played – and in turn the values it

promotes – is highly dependent on those doing the playing. Therefore, one cannot assume that

the core values championed by the conventional wisdom are consistent in each country, or

even on each pitch. Before we ask whether football‟s values positively influence the

sensibilities of Rwandan youth, we must determine what those values are.

On the surface, football matches in Rwanda are played in the same way, no matter if

the match is on the side of the street, in a professional stadium, or at a FSCO. Players express

emotions of joy and frustration, satisfaction and tension, comprehension and confusion. In

some moments, anger turns into aggression. In others, mistakes are gracefully forgiven.

This picture is one that would fit most football settings around the world. However, it

does not tell the full story. During my stay in Rwanda, I played multiple times in organized

matches at Esperance, but also in random pickup games around Kigali. My participation gave

me a new perspective on the way the games were played, especially as it exposed me to

23

whispered apologies and subtle glares of contempt. Moreover, that experience highlighted the

way the match‟s setting can influence the type of values football promotes.

From Esperance to the random pickup games, most of the values were the same –

teamwork, leadership, joy, and freedom of expression.7 On both pitches, teammates

interacted, communicated, and tried to figure out the best way to break down their opponents.

This interaction sometimes produced disagreements between players, but the most

experienced player would quickly dispose of verbal altercations. Finally, the joy of the game

was apparent, with players smiling, laughing, and celebrating when they managed to score.

However, there was one key difference in the way the games were played. One of the

„core values‟ of football, respect, seemingly governed one arena, but was almost invisible in

the other. At Esperance, the slightest sign of aggression produced shouts of “Fair Play!” from

members of both teams. If the aggressor did not abide, the referee asserted his/her authority

and forced the player off the pitch for a few minutes. This system is unprecedented in

football. It leaves the aggressor‟s team a man down, and it forces him to watch as his

teammates suffer from his wrongdoings. The threat of punishment incentivizes everyone to

show respect for their teammates and opponents so that they avoid being forced off of the

pitch. It is the very reason one hears those “Fair Play!” shouts when observing a match at

Esperance.

On the other hand, at random pickup games, the enforcement and practice of respect

was less tangible. Bad tackles and unsportsmanlike play often produced rising tensions that

were not as closely governed by „fair play‟ shouts or the referees whistle. Matches could

become so intense that, at times, I became concerned about the possibility of injury. Although

most players controlled their frustration at the end of matches, there were two who, on

7 Interviewees echoed these values. They were four out of the five most frequently referenced.

24

separate occasions, stormed off the pitch and back into their daily lives, brimming with

tension and anxiety.

Perhaps these different experiences should be expected, given the structural

differences in the two settings. It is particularly interesting, though, because every single

interviewee emphasized respect as the pillar of football. Whether it was a player at Esperance,

a player from a random pickup game, a member of the Ministry of Sports and Culture, or an

intern at a law-firm, they all preached football‟s ability to promote respect.8 But my

experience illustrated that the setting of the match has a major impact on the way that

particular value comes to life. Perhaps associating football with respect is just the official line,

and thus it should not be expected to reflect actions on the pitch. But the fact remains: at

Esperance, respect and fair play are projected through tangible reactions to conflict. In pickup

games, those values are only subtly expressed, if present at all.

Even when values such as respect and fair play are projected on the football pitch, do

they translate to daily life? This is a key question, as football can only play a peacebuilding

role if its lessons reach beyond the pitch. Respondents affiliated with Esperance argue they

do, with one explaining that “lessons learned on the football pitch are present in all domains

of life.”9 But this is the sort of lofty discourse critics of SDP initiatives use to fuel their

arguments. The causal pathway – how football‟s lessons actually create more sensitive,

sophisticated citizens – remains quite blurry. Simply playing football and learning about its

core values may not be enough. However, there is more to football in Rwanda than just

matches and training sessions.

8 Origene, Esperance player, 3/27/15; Olivier, Pick-up player, 4/10/15; Jean, Ministry of Sports, 3/26/15; Sonia,

intern at law-firm, 3/25/15. 9 Daniel, Esperance Founder, 3/20/15.

25

3.2 The Football Pitch as an Open Setting

In post-conflict settings, states, NGOs, and international actors stress the importance

of bridging gaps and starting dialogue between groups. These interactive policies stem from

the contact hypothesis, which suggests that “changes in ethnic relations will occur following

intergroup contact” (Amir 1969, 319). More specifically, the contact hypothesis claims that

the setting in which intergroup contact occurs strongly determines how ethnic relations will

change. If conditions are „favorable‟, then intergroup contact can improve relations and

reduce prejudice. But if conditions are „unfavorable‟, tensions may actually rise between

groups (Amir, 1969). The setting therefore becomes a key determinant, and this is an

important point to bear in mind. But before policymakers and scholars can assess the

conditions of a given setting, they need both sides to actually be present. In the aftermath of

large-scale violence, it can be difficult to bring former enemies together.

In Rwanda, football has been used as a magnet, a tool that brings people from different

backgrounds together.10

Prior to the genocide, it was one of the few settings in Rwandan

society that was not segregated, and thus “it was one of the only spaces for communication

and interaction.”11

This legacy meant that, after the genocide, people from both sides still

gathered at the pitch to play the sport they love. One interviewee who is introduced at length

below argues that “football is unique in its ability to bring people together,” and “it creates an

arena in which people‟s perceptions of the country and their countrymen can change.”12

If football is powerful enough to cut across divides, then what really matters is what

happens when the groups come together on the pitch. Again, this is where the setting of the

football match becomes a major determinant. At Esperance, staff and volunteers sit down with

10

Eric, Esperance Coach, 3/19/15. 11

Daniel, op.cit. 12

Felicite Rwemarika, AKWOS Founder, 4/16/15.

26

participants after matches to introduce them to debates revolving around peacebuilding and

social cohesion. For 20 minutes, players sit together on the pitch and discuss a topic selected

by the coach. Topics currently include Fair Play, unity, gender equality and good hygiene.

While other Rwandan-based FSCOs reference these issues, Esperance is unique in its method

of sitting down and discussing them immediately after training sessions or matches.13

Volunteers, former participants, and current players at Esperance rave about these

discussions. In particular, they highlight discussions held during the late-1990s and early

2000s, an exceptionally important time characterized by institutional peacebuilding methods

that were highly inaccessible for Rwanda‟s youth. The expectation was that children could

achieve reconciliation in school, but large class sizes made it difficult to participate.14

Those

who attended Esperance‟s matches and discussions during that time describe the organization

as the one place where they could freely talk about their experiences. One former participant

says the organization was his “refuge.”15

There are two reasons why Esperance became such a celebrated space for discussion.

First, it was one of the only settings in which young people could participate in sensitive

discussions. Government conferences allowed for very little maneuvering from what was

becoming the dominant narrative16

, and typically only a few people in the crowd had the

opportunity to participate.17

Alternatively, there was the classroom, where teachers were

required to promote ideals of peace and reconciliation. While these were slightly more

13

Bernard, Play for Hope Coach, 4/22/15. 14

Classes were estimated to average 60 children per class. Yves, Volunteer and Former Participant at Esperance.

3/17/15. 15

Frank, Esperance Staff, 19.3.15. 16

The Rwandan government “imagines the past in order to make sense of the present” (Pottier 2002, 9). While

its story, which invokes memories of a „golden‟ pre-colonial era characterized by social harmony, does not

capture the complexity of Rwandan history, it is used to conjure a sense of national identity. This distortion

leaves little room for nuance, and anyone who portends to critique the narrative is taking a risk (Hintjens, 2008;

Reyntjens, 2011). 17

Dieudonne, op.cit.

27

comfortable settings, large class sizes often prevented students from having their say.18

Even

if they could participate, lessons were characterized as “lectures” that did not encourage

students to waver from the government-sponsored script.19

Outside of one‟s family, then,

Esperance was the only place where youth from surrounding areas said they could participate

in sensitive discussions.

Second, Esperance developed an open and safe environment in which participants

could challenge the dominant narrative. Despite the government‟s determination to

reconstruct “the mindset, bad behavior, and bad practices of the general population of

Rwanda,” (Melvin 2013, 14) Esperance managed to create a comfortable setting in which

participants could freely express themselves.20

For a number of former participants and

observers, the comfort of this setting stemmed from the fact that they had just played football

together.21

The values to which they had just ascribed – respect, teamwork, joy, and unity –

remained in the forefront of their minds, and some level of trust grew out of that.22

By the

time they sat down to discuss, they had already worked as a team, and that camaraderie then

translated to the discussion so that people felt free to speak their minds. Esperance

complemented this camaraderie with an open setting. Government officials were not present,

and participants could use ethnic names, something they could not do in the classroom or at

government-sponsored events.23

In addition, the discussions were fluid and reliant on

participation, meaning the participants were the ones in control of the topics addressed.

18

Yves, op.cit. 19

Ibid. 20

Nadege, Former female Esperance player, 3/20/15. 21

Jean-Baptiste, Filmmaker, 3/25/15. 22 Frank, op.cit.; Daniel, op.cit.; Dieudonne, op.cit. 23

Yves, op.cit.

28

All of this was done on purpose. As one founding member of Esperance explains,

“discussions at government conferences were extremely controlled. People feared that if they

spoke up and told their story, something might happen to them afterwards.”24

The founders of

Esperance recognized this shortcoming, and they used football to bring people together, build

solidarity, and encourage people to speak their minds.

Esperance‟s ability to create open discussions separates it from government-sponsored

conferences, school debates, and even other NGOs. One interviewee explains that “there are

many NGOs that are NGOs in name only. They‟re heavily infiltrated by the state.”25

Esperance has been able to avoid this infiltration – to the extent that any organization in

Rwanda can – for two reasons. First, it does not receive state funding, and thus it keeps the

government out of its official business. Second, it shows its government partners that it has

nothing to hide. As one staff member explains, “we know this is not a government-free area.

You will not find such a place in this country. But we combat that problem by simply being

open – we just involve them. In anything we do, we involve the government. That‟s how one

builds trust.”26

This transparent approach has helped Esperance form a positive relationship

with the government, a sentiment echoed by government officials themselves. As one

explains, “Esperance‟s impact is huge and we know it is doing good work. Really, no one else

has ever done it.”27

But even with these positive remarks from former participants and government

officials, the same question about how lessons learned on the pitch translate to daily life must

be considered. As explained earlier, the transfer of football‟s values into daily life is poorly

24

Anonymous2. 25

Anonymous1. 26

Dieudonne, op.cit. 27

Kevin, FERWAFA Official, 3/25/15.

29

understood. However, using football as a magnet, a builder of camaraderie, and a space for

discussion has more tangible effects.

During the late-1990s and early-2000s, Esperance organized family visits amongst its

participants. Players from both sides of the social divide visited their teammates‟ homes to

show parents that they were playing together.28

These visits enabled participants to apply

lessons learned from discussions to everyday life interactions. Esperance also developed

innovative ways of spreading messages, complementing football with theatre, music, and

other forms of entertainment so that issues discussed on the pitch were reinforced in other

arenas.29

All of these different lessons promoted ideas of social cohesion, and participants

explain that they “took those ideas and brought them home.”30

There is thus a major difference between playing football at Esperance and playing

anywhere else in Rwanda. Proponents of SDP initiatives place football into one category,

arguing that football tournaments such as FIFA‟s Football for Hope Festivals have the same

impact as football matches at FSCOs. But the random football tournament has far less

potential to promote peacebuilding, as it lacks the time, resources, and relationships that

enable Esperance to hold open, animated discussions. Without the capacity to promote

comfortable, open discussions, football tournaments lose access to one of the two causal

pathways through which football can promote peace.

But the question remains, how can football‟s two causal pathways impact Rwanda‟s

peacebuilding process? The next two sections dive into two of the most important

components of any country‟s peacebuilding process – unity and gender equality. While the

28

Dieudonne, op.cit.; Daniel, op.cit. 29

Joseph, Esperance Volunteer, 4/8/15. 30

Ibid.

30

sections approach both issues on a country-level, they focus particularly on the impact of

Esperance.

IV. Football and Unity: the case of Esperance

Between the end of Rwanda‟s civil war in 1993 and April 6, 1994, there was a brief

period of uneasy peace. During those few months, Rwandans intent on avoiding future

violence sought to unify the divided factions. In a symbolic vote of confidence for the power

of sport, their unification effort included football and volleyball matches. In a somewhat

dejected, depressed manner, the current President of Rwanda‟s Olympic Committee explains

the rationale:

“In 1993, when we had our brief peace, there was a push to introduce the two sides to each

other. We weren‟t sure how to start, but we knew that everyone loved sport, so we began there. We

organized games of football and volleyball at the regional stadium in Nyamirambo [central Kigali],

and then on the other side, in RPF-controlled territory. We believed it was a way to reunite people. At

the very least, maybe we could get them to talk.”31

The sporting events led to interaction, but they clearly did not produce unity. On their own,

proponents of sport faced a tall task in attempting to reconcile Rwanda‟s divided society. Yet

their strategy – organizing matches on both sides of the divided territory – had flaws, and the

SDP community must recognize them.

This section explores two key questions. First, how is football used to promote unity

in Rwanda? Second, how did Esperance successfully produce unity in the late-1990s? To

address these questions, I first explain who is doing and who is receiving the promoting. In

particular, I use the causal mechanisms outlined in the previous section to explain why some

have been successful and others have not. Second, I return to Esperance‟s experience in the

late-1990s to offer a successful example of football promoting unity. Specifically, I describe

the barriers Esperance faced and explain how it adapted its policies to create „favorable‟

31

Robert Bayigamba, President of Olympics Committee, 4/22/15.

31

conditions for intergroup contact. In the end, I argue that football can only promote unity

when a specific set of conditions is in place: players must be willing participants, matches

must be accompanied by value-based lessons, and the spaces in which post-match discussions

occur must be safe and open.

4.1 “We are all Rwandans” – on the pitch, too

The main actors in Rwanda‟s football for peace movement fall into two categories: the

government and FSCOs. While other entities such as professional football clubs and schools

are involved in the practice and dissemination of football, the government and FSCOs are the

two that use football as a tool explicitly for peacebuilding. This distinction between the

government and FSCOs is not unproblematic, though. As noted earlier, a number of NGO‟s

have been “infiltrated” by the state, causing many to question their „non-governmental‟

status.32

Similar concerns surround some of Rwanda‟s FSCOs, but the degree to which the

government meddles in their affairs is unclear. 33

In addition, many Rwandan NGOs self-

censor for fear of retribution from the government. Therefore, even if certain NGOs manage

to avoid government „infiltration‟, their independence from the state can become quite blurry

(Hintjens, 2008; Beswick, 2010). However, gaining a full understanding of government

infiltration and NGO self-censorship would require far more time and resources than were

allocated to this project.

Still, the distinction between the government and FSCOs is useful as it provides a nice

„lay of the land‟ for football-based unity projects in Rwanda. The following sub-sections dive

into each of these categories, assessing how they promote unity through football, and

explaining why some might be more effective than others.

32

Anonymous1. 33

Ibid.

32

4.1.a The Government

The Rwandan government‟s famous slogan, “We are all Rwandans,” has penetrated

every space within society. The phrase outlines the government‟s goal to create a united

country, and it serves as the centerpiece of every government-sponsored unity/reconciliation

event – from itorero, “a civic education institution which aims mainly at teaching all

Rwandese to keep their culture,” to speeches made by President Kagame (Ministry of Foreign

Affairs, Itorero). But while conferences, speeches, and civic education have been the

government‟s primary tools for unity, the government has sought to complement them with

more interactive methods, notably football.

Over the past decade, the Rwandan government has used football to promote unity in

a few different ways. First, it has invested heavily in the improvement of the men‟s national

team. When the team returned to its normal schedule in 1995, it was ranked 168th

in FIFA‟s

official rankings (FIFA rankings, Rwanda). To improve the team‟s ranking and rally support

for Rwandan football, the government allocated more resources to the Fédération Rwandaise

de Football Association (FERWAFA) and recruited foreign coaches with strong reputations

(Bwire, 2002). This was a strategic decision aimed at promoting unity across the country.

Many scholars have noted the way national teams can inspire a stronger, more united national

identity (Houlihan, 1997; Brown, 1998; Kent, 2014). To the government‟s delight, the

investment has paid off. The men‟s national team‟s ranking has risen from 168th

in 1995 to

73rd

in 2015 (FIFA rankings, Rwanda).

Despite the investment in the men‟s national team, football was not elevated to official

state policy until 2008. From October 2008 to January 2009, the National Unity and

Reconciliation Commission (NURC) organized football matches “to reintegrate perpetrators

33

of genocide into the communities” (Sellstrom 2010, 40). Matches were played mostly in

urban areas such as Kigali and Butare, and at the end of each game, the two groups sat

together and “comfortably conversed” (VOA, 2009). As the project coordinator explained,

“football makes the first entry – it helps them come closer. We have seen it working…the first

trust is built” (VOA, 2009).

The perceived success of these matches produced more state initiatives on the football

pitch. In 2009, the Ministry of Local Government founded the Good Governance

Championships.34

This tournament, commonly known as the Umurenge Kagame Cup,

includes amateur teams from each sector of Rwanda. The tournament‟s stages follow the

country‟s spatial structure, with victorious teams progressing from the sector, to the district, to

the provincial, and finally to the national level. At the end of the tournament, one sector‟s

team is crowned the national champion (Good Governance Competitions, 2015). Since local

government officials give speeches at halftime, the government claims it “creates awareness

on good governance” and “brings leadership closer to the people” (Mugarura, 2014).

NURC matches and the Umurenge Kagame Cup bring people from different

backgrounds together. By their very nature – perpetrators returning home, or teams from

different sectors playing each other – the games attract people from both sides of the historic

divide. However, both settings fail to create „favorable‟ conditions in which the two causal

mechanisms can operate. First, players in government-sponsored football matches are not

organically chosen for participation. In NURC matches, perpetrators are transported to the

pitch and pressured to reconcile with their compatriots, creating a space in which people feel

obliged to feign comfort with each other. In such a constructed environment, it is unlikely

34

David, Former Official at Ministry of Local Government, 3/30/15.

34

honest apologies and debates will emerge. Rather, a manufactured form of unity, one based on

hallow forms of accord and forgiveness, is the more likely outcome.

Second, while the values of football are present at each match, they are not

accompanied by lessons about respect, teamwork, and unity. As a result, values such as Fair

Play may not govern the pitch as strongly as they should, and it is unlikely they will translate

to daily life. Third, although football is used as a magnet, post-match discussions are

“controlled by government officials preaching one message, one ideology.”35

This is not to

deny the NURC project coordinator‟s observation that matches between perpetrators and

victims brought the two parties closer. However, the government‟s overwhelming presence at

those matches does suggest that the pitch was not an open environment in which one could

freely express oneself. Without permission to challenge the status quo, participants were

limited in their ability to debate, discuss, and reconcile.

Ultimately, settings in which government officials are present and mediating

discussion are unlikely to produce tangible, lasting unity. As one government member

explains, these officials have a mandate to “protect traditional values” and to “promote a

certain way of thinking.”36

Therefore, when they use football to bring people together, they

are doing it with a specific narrative and outcome in mind. Participants are often forced into

the discussion and the debate is not open. People with legitimate grievances must refrain from

challenging the status quo, as there is genuine potential for retribution. Breaking down

barriers – a process central to the production of unity – is thus a very difficult task.

4.1.b ‘Football for Social Change’ Organizations

35

David, op.cit. 36

Jean, Ministry of Sports, 3/26/15.

35

As mentioned above, there are three FSCOs in Rwanda: Esperance, Play for Hope

(PfH), and Dream Team Academy (DTA). Esperance has been operating more than a decade

longer than both PfH and DTA, but it has not expanded at the same rate as the newer

organizations (Kayisire, 2014; Play for Hope, 2015). To date, PfH has 12 centers dispersed

across Rwanda, and DTA has held a number of events beyond its Kicukiro base. To its credit,

Esperance has recently followed suit, creating partnerships with clubs in rural areas and

across the East African region (Esperance, Mission and Vision).

All three organizations share the same goal - to positively impact the lives of children

through sport. They also share the lofty discourse characteristic of most FSCOs. For example,

PfH‟s mission is to “transform youth through sports to create the future heroes of Rwanda”

(Play for Hope, 2015). These broad mission statements create space for flexible approaches,

but they also imply that FSCOs are operating without pursuing a specific end.37

Prior to my

arrival, Esperance held a two-day event that focused on good hygiene. During my stay, the

focus transitioned to unity and conflict resolution. This approach reveals Esperance‟s

flexibility, but it also suggests that their lesson plans lack structure.

While these organizations share the same goals and use football to pursue them, there

are a few important differences. Most of Esperance‟s participants come from low-income

households, but there remains some diversity in income levels. PfH “tends to concentrate on

vulnerable children,” and DTA recruits players from a financially homogeneous region,

meaning Esperance benefits from a more financially diverse set of participants.38

However,

each of the organizations has participants from both sides of the historic divide.39

Esperance

37

Dieudonne, Esperance Staff, 3/19/15. 38

Bernard, Play for Hope Coach, 4/22/15. 39

Daniel, Esperance Founder, 3/20/15; Bernard, op.cit.

36

provides a good example – 60 percent of its players are estimated to be Hutu, 30 percent

Tutsi, and the remaining 10 percent either mixed or Twa.40

On methodologies, there are quite substantial differences. Esperance uses football as a

magnet so that people from immediate and surrounding communities can play together,

develop a sense of camaraderie, and engage in open debate. It ensures participants feel safe to

freely express themselves by maintaining a degree of autonomy from the government.

Esperance offers these services to its three youth teams and its professional team, and it also

holds matches, regular training sessions, and „Football Amahoro‟ tournaments for other

people who are not as serious about football but still enjoy playing.

Football Amahoro tournaments are particularly interesting. Every team must have

three boys and three girls, and only the girls can score.41

There are no referees, so players

must determine their own rules and monitor themselves accordingly. This can produce

disagreements, but the structure of the match forces players to work together. In nearly every

Football Amahoro match I watched, there was an argument about whether a player had

committed a foul. While the situation sometimes grew tense, the players knew they needed to

make a decision so that the match could continue. The structure of the situation forced them to

compromise, and it often led to an agreement that the next close call would go in the other

team‟s favor. As one former participant explains, “that sort of cooperation is created by

Football Amahoro, and it makes post-match discussions even more productive.”42

PfH and DTA have developed similar methods, but there are subtle differences that

change the way they interact with participants. Not unlike Esperance, PfH‟s centers have three

youth teams and one under-21 team. They also do not receive funding from the government,

40

Anonymous1. 41

Dieudonne, op.cit. 42

Frank, Esperance Staff, 3/20/15.

37

as PfH is partially operated by Americans with access to other sources of finance.43

However,

PfH differs from Esperance in three important ways. First, PfH aims to include the most

vulnerable youth in the surrounding community. While it is a commendable approach, it

nonetheless restricts access to its centers. Second, PfH only uses standard forms of football

such as training sessions and matches. Third, it is a religious organization that places its

greatest emphasis on religion-based lessons. As the head coach from one of PfH‟s center‟s

explains:

“Every training session begins with a prayer. At the end of each session, we typically gather

so that one of the players can read a Bible verse…At times, post-training gatherings

encompass ideas such as peace and conflict resolution, but they are usually focused on the

messages we draw from the Bible.”44

While some of the Bible verses they use allude to concepts such as unity and peace, the focus

on religion suggests there is less room for debate about unity-related issues.

DTA also has some aspects in common with Esperance. It has a number of youth

teams with representation from across Kicukiro District, and unlike PfH‟s centers, it focuses

on issues associated with unity. However, it operates more like a normal football club – each

of its 200 participants plays on one of the youth teams. Moreover, its ability to create open

and safe environments for discussion is less certain. DTA‟s founder, Jacques Kayisire, is a

former under-17 Rwandan national team player who had a successful career with one of

Rwanda‟s footballing powers, Rayon Sport (Rwanda Rush, 2014). After retiring, he joined the

Government of Rwanda‟s National ID Agency and became a chairperson of FERWAFA‟s

youth football committee (TED Nyarugenge, 2013). While his success as a footballer draws

young players to DTA, Kayisire‟s involvement with the government leaves questions about

the nature of DTA‟s lessons and „space‟ of learning. He often invites government officials to

43

Bernard, op.cit. 44

Ibid.

38

the academy, such as members of the Ministry of Sports and Culture and the Rwandan

Olympic Committee, to observe matches and speak to players (Kayisire, 2014). While this

introduces participants to potential role models, it also restricts the openness of DTA‟s

discussions.

What separates Esperance as a promoter of unity from these two organizations is its

ability to create open spaces for discussion. As one Esperance player explains, “when we

have problems on the pitch, Esperance teaches us to work out those problems. It is easier to

resolve conflicts on the pitch compared to at school or at home.”45

While it appears PfH

maintains a relatively „government-free‟ space, its emphasis on religion means there are fewer

opportunities for participants to discuss unity and peacebuilding-related issues. Moreover, its

focus on a specific type of participant means certain groups are left out, and thus discussions

are not as integrated as they could be. DTA does indeed concentrate on the promotion of

unity, but it operates more like a classic football club and only has 200 beneficiaries. In

addition, it maintains close ties with the government, and thus the dominant, government-

sponsored narrative may guide its discussions.

Esperance maintains a government-free zone and simultaneously promotes unity

amongst its participants. Today, its current and former participants preach values such as Fair

Play, and they live together harmoniously both on and off the pitch. But the present harmony

was not always a reality. To fully understand how Esperance has promoted unity in

Kimisagara and surrounding areas, we must return to its most tumultuous days, to when it all

began in 1996.

4.2 Esperance in 1996: promoting unity in the face of trauma

45

Origene, Esperance player, 3/27/15.

39

As noted above, Esperance was founded to create a space for youth to interact and

overcome their violent memories. At the time, young people were enduring “extreme trauma,”

and they lacked outlets in which they could release pent up anger and frustration.46

This

translated to “small conflicts” within the community that were debilitating efforts to promote

unity.47

Esperance‟s founder, a former professional footballer, had personally experienced the

way football can impact lives. It had helped him “understand how to live with other people”

and ultimately gave him the chance to continue his studies.48

He therefore saw football as a

way to bring kids from across the divide into the same space and teach them to work together.

Esperance‟s early days were characterized by violence. At first, the founder was

hesitant to put players from opposite sides of the divide on the same team. This meant one

team would be comprised of Hutu, the other Tutsi.49

One former participant explains that

“ethnic differences would not allow us to play freely, and coming together as a team was

difficult.”50

Hatred and trauma filled the minds of most players, and fights on the pitch

occurred in every single game. Players would “follow their violent instincts and just start

kicking their opponents, even if they were nowhere near the ball.”51

In those first days, “it

simply was not football.”52

In response, the founder established a committee that included people from all sides of

the genocide – Hutu and Tutsi, perpetrators and victims, former exiles and former refugees.

By representing each group, the committee became a legitimate form of authority, and it used

46

Daniel, op.cit. 47

Ibid. 48

Ibid. 49

Dieudonne, op.cit. 50

Frank, op.cit. 51

Ibid. 52

Dieudonne, op.cit.

40

that legitimacy to govern matches and establish rules for post-match discussions.53

Eventually, the committee organized teams to ensure they were ethnically mixed, and it

imposed punishment on anyone who played too violently. As one member of the committee

explains, the goal was to convince participants that “they were there as a player, not as

someone from a specific background.”54

These rules set precedents that translated to post-match discussions. After matches,

each team would sit separately and discuss for 20 minutes. The entire group would then spend

another 20 minutes explaining to each other what they‟d learned.55

Participants were asked to

respect their fellow footballers‟ stories, but “they were also given freedom to challenge

opinions and waver from the government‟s version of the genocide.”56

Esperance thus created

a unique space in what was otherwise a highly controlled society. Not only did it enable

people from different sides to interact, but it also allowed them to debate, express their

emotions, and come to some level of understanding.57

As the committee evolved, it developed complementary methods to ensure lessons

learned on the pitch translated to daily life. One member revisits the additions:

“By 1999 or 2000, fights started to dissipate. Our methods were working, but we wanted to be

sure our lessons were going beyond the football pitch. So we organized family visits amongst

kids from different backgrounds. We also worked with parents of our participants. These

added elements ensured that lessons learned on the pitch translated to regular life.”58

Beginning in 2002, discussions and family visits were complemented with another new tool,

Football for Peace. Esperance received the methodology from a partner organization in

Colombia, and it adapted the rules to better fit the Rwandan context. The newly named

53

Ibid. 54

Ibid. 55

Daniel, op.cit. 56

Frank, op.cit. 57

Tresor, Esperance Volunteer, 3/19/15; Jean-Baptiste, Filmmaker, 3/25/15. 58

Dieudonne, op.cit.

41

„Football Amahoro‟ emphasized conflict resolution, unity, and gender equality by using the

football pitch as a space for theatre, music, and speeches.

These methodologies enabled Esperance to become a driver of unity in the immediate

and surrounding community. Esperance used football to attract people into a space that was

open for safe discussion, and it incorporated football‟s values into those discussions so that its

participants considered them on a deeper intellectual level. In the face of trauma, stigma, and

hatred, Esperance brought former enemies together and built lasting friendships. Today,

Esperance‟s staff and volunteers are friends who come from different backgrounds but met at

the organization during its first few years.

While Esperance offers a successful example of using football to promote unity, one

must remember that its participants were also benefitting from a nationally driven unity and

reconciliation process.59

I have criticized government-sponsored events, classroom lectures,

and tradition-inspired institutions such as gacaca because they are inaccessible for youth and

are controlled by a powerful government narrative. But despite their shortcomings, they have

existed as spaces in which people from different backgrounds can gather and interact. While

Esperance was an alternative to those spaces, its participants still benefitted from the effect of

those institutional methods. Having said that, it appears Esperance was most important. Every

interviewee involved with Esperance during that period – staff members, former participants,

and volunteers – noted that by creating friendships and enabling them to participate in

sensitive discussions, football was their most powerful tool for unity.60

59

Aline, Parliamentarian, 4/16/15; Bernard, op.cit.; Diane, Female Rap Artist, 3/27/15; Joseph, Esperance

Volunteer, 4/8/15. 60

Yves, Volunteer and Former Participant at Esperance. 3/17/15; Nadege, Former female Esperance player,

3/20/15; Eric, Esperance Coach, 3/19/15; Dieudonne, op.cit.; Daniel, op.cit.; Frank, op.cit.; Joseph, op.cit.;

Tresor, op.cit.

42

The Esperance example shows that football has the potential to promote unity in

Rwanda. However, I have also shown that other football settings can be ineffective.

Government-sponsored tournaments and FSCOs that do not create open spaces for discussion

fail to capitalize on the camaraderie football builds between people. Using that camaraderie

and holding open discussions is vital if the goal is to transfer football‟s values and lessons to

one‟s daily life. The key takeaway, then, is that football cannot be conceptualized as one

activity that is always experienced in the same way. There are different types of football, and

only some have the potential to become effective unity-building tools.

In the following section, I assess how football‟s two causal pathways have impacted

Rwanda‟s push for gender equality. Although it is not a concept often associated directly with

peacebuilding, the promotion of gender equality is vital in post-conflict settings, as the

production of sustainable peace is partially reliant on “a permanent transformation of social

norms around gender” (Strickland and Duvvery, 2003).

V. Gender Transformation through Football

In 2013, just 19 years after 250,000 to 500,000 women were raped during the

genocide, Rwanda‟s voters elected a parliament that is 64 percent women – the highest

percentage in the world (Jeune Afrique, 2013). In addition, since the end of the genocide, a

“swath of laws have given women the right to inherit land, share the assets of a marriage, and

obtain credit” (Topping, 2014). But despite success at the state level and praise from the

international media about Rwanda‟s promotion of gender equality, some Rwandan women

remain critical (Dudman, 2015; Topping, 2014; Washington Conference, 2014). In 2014, one

women‟s rights campaigner expressed her frustration:

“I go to these meetings, we sit around a table and I hear about this amazing progress. And I

ask myself – are we living in the same country? … These women parliamentarians have a

43

good salary, good for them…but it‟s like a vase of flowers in a living room: it looks good, it

smells good, but ultimately it does nothing” (Topping, 2014).

Indeed, scholars have found that “increased women‟s representation has had little effect on

policy outputs” (Devlin and Elgie, 2008). If women on the grassroots level are not benefitting

from institutional change, then there is a need for alternative methods. While transformation

can come in many different forms, such as “increasing literacy rates among women,

expanding reproductive health programs, and improving women‟s access to credit, land, and

other resources,” the government, FSCOs, and an inspirational Rwandan woman have turned

to football (MDG, Goal 3).

In this section, I answer two key questions. First, which entities use football in

Rwanda to promote gender equality, and how do they do it? Second, in which spaces does

football have the potential to produce gender equality, and what makes those spaces

favorable? To address these questions, I first explain how the government, FSCOs, and one

Rwandan woman have used football to promote gender equality in the post-genocide period.

Second, I explore whether the various entities have been successful in producing female

empowerment on the grassroots level. Within this sub-section, I highlight one particularly

successful example to show that certain types of football have the potential to promote gender

equality.

Ultimately, I argue that the government has successfully created a professional league

and national team to which women can aspire, but those spaces are poorly managed and will

not become major producers of gender equality on their own. In addition, I suggest that

FSCOs have the potential to promote female empowerment, but they need to expand female

participation. Finally, I show that one woman has successfully used football to empower

women, notably by holding discussions after matches. Drawing from this example, I argue

44

that a confident female role model is the key condition for successful promotion of gender

equality through football.

5.1 “ Women Are Not Supposed to Play Football”

Prior to the genocide, women in Rwanda were expected to fulfill the classic caretaker

role: fetch water, clean the house, cook food, and take care of their children and/or younger

siblings. Traditional Rwandan society taught women “obedience, respect, politeness,

submission, and resignation,” and men ensured that women did not stray from their

submissive roles (Hogg 2010, 72; Gervais, 2003; Nowrojee, 1996). While women exercised

some autonomy within the household, public spheres of influence were reserved to men

(Vansina, 2004; Spens-Black, 2013). This culture of submission meant that “before the

genocide, women could dance and sing, but they could not play sports.”61

Football was

particularly taboo. In traditional Rwandan society, “women could not raise their legs,” and

thus “women were forbidden from playing football.62

When the RPF established stability, there was a dramatic shift in government policy

towards women. President Kagame famously asked, “how can we develop our country if we

leave half of the population behind?” (Topping, 2014). Female empowerment became one of

the pillars of Rwanda‟s rebuilding process, especially at the state level. In the 2003

constitution, the government established Article 9, Section 4, which “ensures that women are

granted at least 30 percent of posts in decision making organs” (Rwanda Constitution, 2003).

The creation of a gendered threshold in all state offices was applauded by the international

community, with international media and UN officials praising the “great strides” Rwanda has

61

Felicite Rwemarika, AKWOS Founder, 4/16/15. 62

Ibid.; Grace Nyinawumuntu, Coach of Women‟s National Team, 4/23/15.

45

made on gender equality (UNDP, 2015). Since then, the government has expanded its female

empowerment movement to other facets of society, including football.

5.1.a The Government

The decision to use football to promote gender equality stems from the belief that

“sport provides a space in which women can renegotiate concepts of femininity and

masculinity, challenge stereotypes which label women as weak and inferior, and demonstrate

to their communities what they are capable of achieving” (Huggins and Randall 2007, 1).

While the government has not instituted a gendered threshold for football clubs or school

teams, it has enabled girls to play in school and established a professional league and national

team to which young female footballers can aspire. In 2007, the Fédération Rwandaise de

Football Association (FERWAFA) created the Commission for Women‟s Football, which

established a professional league comprised of twelve teams spread across Rwanda.63

While

the league is managed by FERWAFA, it is funded by an annual grant from FIFA. The grant is

minute (US $70,000 in 2015), and as a result the twelve teams have struggled to improve and

advertise their product (Kamasa, 2015). However, despite financial constraints, there is a

general sentiment that the professional league has helped break down gender barriers

associated with Rwanda‟s traditions. According to one member of FERWAFA, the

“professional league has broken down the stigma…parents are willing to let their daughters

play because, at the end of the day, it could help them bring home bread.”64

Indeed, one

current female player at Esperance says she plays football because she wants “to become a

professional player.”65

63

Grace, op.cit. 64

Kevin, FERWAFA Official, 3/25/15. 65

Origene, Esperance player, 3/27/15.

46

In 2008, FERWAFA‟s Commission for Women‟s Football capitalized on the

momentum created by the professional league by establishing a women‟s national team.66

The

belief was that the formation of a women‟s national team would encourage more girls to play

football (UN Rwanda, 2015). The team made its first appearance in Germany that year,

playing six matches against professional and youth teams.67

Upon returning, the team

continued to train, but it could not schedule matches because of resource constraints. In 2009,

the team‟s younger members played against Uganda in the under-20 women‟s world cup.68

However, from 2009 to 2014, the national team was discontinued, and after a brief return in

2014, it is yet again dormant. Grace Nyinawumuntu, the head coach of the national team and

also of the most successful female club, AS Kigali Femmes, explains the situation:

“The leaders say they want to give me time to develop the team, to start with younger girls.

That‟s why you see so many young girls in my team. Most of the players in the national team

come from AS Kigali Femmes, so even though there is no national team, I‟m able to coach all

of the players in my club team.”69

Indeed, 14 out of the 18 players on the senior national team play for Grace‟s club.

There is no doubt that the women‟s national team needs time to improve. In the 2014

African Women‟s Championship qualification round, it lost 8-0 to Nigeria. But it is strange

that FERWAFA has stopped funding that development. If it is committed to promoting

gender equality and improving the women‟s national team, it should be investing in it, not

outsourcing the work to clubs in the professional league. By discontinuing funding for the

team and simultaneously increasing funding for the men‟s team, it is reinforcing the

traditionally patriarchal structure of Rwandan football.

5.1.b ‘Football for Social Change’ Organizations

66

Grace, op.cit. 67

Ibid. 68

Ibid. 69

Ibid.

47

While the government has created a professional league and a national team to which

female footballers can aspire, FSCOs have worked on the grassroots level to get girls playing

and encourage participants to rethink traditional gender roles. All three organizations have

created spaces in which girls can play, but they have done so in different ways. PfH and DTA

created female teams and tried to recruit girls from their surrounding communities, but they

have found it difficult to attract enough players. Three years ago, PfH‟s center in Kimisagara

had a full female team, but as the head coach explains, “our girls grew up and we couldn‟t

find a new group of girls to play.”70

The Kimisagara center tries to entice girls to play by

visiting their families and offering to pay school fees, but to no avail.71

Esperance has also fielded female teams in the past, but it has a second method that

differentiates it from PfH and DTA. In 2002, Esperance established the aforementioned

Football Amahoro tournaments, which place boys and girls on the same team and force them

to work together. To get girls involved, Esperance‟s staff and volunteers initially recruited

their sisters and friends. Once it became clear that the boys would happily dominate the game

and play as if the girls were not on the pitch, Esperance created a new rule – only girls can

score.72

According to one former female participant who started playing in 2002, “the new

rule made football fun, and it made me want to play more. I thought the new rule made

Football Amahoro a good methodology to teach people and promote gender balance.”73

A

current female participant echoes this sentiment, explaining that “I love Football Amahoro – it

70

Bernard, Play for Hope Coach, 4/22/15. 71

Ibid. 72

Dieudonne, Esperance Staff, 3/19/15. 73

Nadege, Former female Esperance player, 3/20/15.

48

gives me the chance to score. And when I score with boys on the pitch, I feel like I can do

anything else.”74

Football Amahoro tournaments remain Esperance‟s main method for the promotion of

gender equality, as matches are followed by brief speeches and discussions. Although they

often cover other topics such as conflict resolution and unity, discourses on gender equality

such as women‟s rights, school attendance, and female empowerment in the workplace are

key pillars of the discussions.75

5.1.c Felicite and AKWOS

In addition to the government and FSCOs, there is a third entity that uses football to

promote gender equality in Rwanda. Felicite Rwemarika founded the Association of Kigali

Women in Sports (AKWOS) in 1997, with a mission “to empower East African women,

starting from Rwanda, through football.”76

Although Felicite is not a footballer herself, she

explains why she chose football as a space for female empowerment:

“As a citizen, you have to give your own contribution for the peace of the country. I wanted to

bring a change. I wanted something that would be new, something that people would always

remember. I was well aware of the stigma associated with women playing football, and I

wanted to confront that. So I set about creating a female football team.”77

She spent two years trying to convince girls to play. Once she finally had a team, she invited

parents to watch them train. When parents visited, Felicite explained to them that she is “a

mature woman with four children,” and that “if anything, football will teach their daughters

discipline.”78

This emphasis on discipline was important because “parents had this belief that

74

Origene, op.cit. 75

Dieudonne, op.cit. 76

Felicite, op.cit. 77

Ibid. 78

Ibid.

49

whenever girls play football, they will become undisciplined, they will grow muscles, and

they will never get married.”79

By showing parents that she is “a reasonable woman” and emphasizing discipline (one

of football‟s core values), Felicite was already breaking down gender barriers. She then

expanded AKWOS, bringing female football to districts beyond Kigali for the first time.

Today, the organization operates in each of Rwanda‟s provinces.80

The main idea is to get

girls playing, and then bring them together to discuss “how we can change people‟s mindsets

about women in football and gender equality more generally.”81

AKWOS is thus unique in

Rwanda, an organization solely for female footballers whose main focus is the promotion of

gender equality through sport. But has that made it a more successful promoter of gender

equality than the government or FSCOs? In the following sub-section, I assess each entity‟s

ability to promote gender equality using the two causal pathways as indicators.

5.2 Which Spaces Actually Produce Female Empowerment?

The Rwandan government has been committed to the expansion of female football

over the past decade. The creation of a professional league and the formation of a national

team have incentivized young girls to start playing, and they have given some women a

steady paycheck and/or the ability to pay school fees.82

The professional league and national

team have also shown Rwandans that women are capable of playing football, and female

players have noted how football‟s values have taught them that they have “the same liberty,

the same authority” to do what they want.83

79

Ibid. 80

Ibid. 81

Ibid. 82

Grace, op.cit. 83

Ibid.

50

However, the government‟s efforts have a few shortcomings. First, the women‟s

national team has not received sufficient support. The men‟s team continues to receive

substantial funding and recently signed a high-profile Northern Irishman to manage the team

(BBC, 2015). If anything, this reinforces the traditional belief that “football is a man‟s

game.”84

Second, while the government has created a professional league that reaches most

corners of the country, the national team is comprised almost exclusively of one club‟s

players. This suggests that only participants from a certain area (Kigali) have opportunities to

play and develop their talent. Third, professional clubs and the national team do not hold

discussions about gender-related issues. While football gives the players “confidence in all

facets of life,” they do not consider ways to extend that attitude to women beyond the football

pitch.85

FSCOs have also made an effort to promote gender equality, but they have a long way

to go. All three organizations have created female teams, but they‟ve struggled to find enough

players. When they have managed to attract girls to the pitch, football‟s values such as

discipline and respect have given their female participants a new sense of confidence. A few

of Esperance‟s current female players highlight the way those values change their perception

of themselves and their teammates: “Once you are on the pitch, it makes you feel really

strong. You have to interact with people and help each other, and it teaches you to love your

teammates and yourself.”86

Esperance has gone a step further, using Football Amahoro tournaments to empower

women through playing and post-match discussions. To get a sense of how these tournaments

work, I brought four boys and four girls to the southern Nyanza Sector to play against two

84

Felicite, op.cit. 85

Nadege, op.cit. 86

Origene, op.cit.

51

local teams. I was impressed by the way the boys and girls interacted on the pitch, the boys

giving their female teammates „high-fives‟ and offering words of encouragement. One

particularly telling moment came when a female member of an opposing team asked one of

Esperance‟s male players if she could borrow his boots while he rested. Without hesitation, he

slipped off his boots and handed them to her, wishing her luck with a smile on his face. It was

a short, subtle exchange, but it personified the way football‟s values – respect, teamwork,

unity – can translate to a non-football moment. At the end of the tournament, an Esperance

volunteer brought the players together and spoke about the importance of unity and gender

equality. The children listened intently and offered their own thoughts, applying the lesson to

the experiences they‟d just had on the football pitch. One girl spoke up: “When I play football

with the boys and I see that I can play just like them, I feel like I can do anything else.”87

Although the Nyanza trip showcased the way both football‟s values and post-match

discussions can reinforce ideas about gender equality, I soon realized that the four female

participants from Esperance are the only girls who regularly play at the Football for Hope

center. We held another Football Amahoro tournament a week later, this time at the center.

Just two additional girls arrived for the tournament, forcing each of the six to rotate and play

on different teams so that each team had three female players. This revealed the most

debilitating shortcoming in Esperance‟s – and FSCOs more generally – ability to promote

gender equality: it does not have enough female footballers playing.

Despite Esperance‟s inability to attract female participants, it harnesses a lofty

discourse about its success in promoting gender equality. Although it has developed a method

that has the potential to do so, it must be more honest with itself and work harder to integrate

girls. Officially, three of Esperance‟s eight staff members are female, and 15 out of 40

87

Emilie, Nyanza tournament participant, 3/29/15.

52

committee members are female.88

However, in six weeks, I only met one female staff member

and four female committee members. Such a small amount of female participants and

members weakens its promotion of gender equality. Even if it can tap into the two causal

pathways, its impact will be limited. So how can it increase female participation?

Felicite and AKWOS offer a successful model. As noted above, AKWOS emphasizes

football‟s values and uses them to promote gender equality. It also uses the camaraderie

created by football to hold discussions about women‟s rights and explore how its participants

can extend the female empowerment discourse beyond the football pitch.89

But the main

reason AKWOS is successful is it attracts girls to the pitch. The analogy of „football as a

magnet‟ is undoubtedly true for young men – in Nyanza, a crowd of 500 high-school males

gathered around the pitch to watch – but female participants and fans are less numerous.

Felicite bridged this gap using two methods. First, she ensured that everyone

interested – community members, players, parents, and government officials – knew that she

was a “reasonable” and “confident” woman.90

By confronting gender norms, she became a

trusted role model for girls interested in playing football. Second, Felicite visited every

interested party to convince them that girls should be playing. Her message was that “it is not

just football, but also bringing a change in people‟s minds, changing the system,” and she

managed to convince everyone involved to join her.91

AKWOS has produced more then 40 female referees and a few national team players.

One former participant, Grace Nyinawumuntu, has already been introduced as Rwanda‟s first

female referee and the women‟s national team coach. She attributes much of her success to

88

Dieudonne, op.cit. 89

Felicite, op.cit. 90

Ibid. 91

Ibid.

53

Felicite and AKWOS: “After I finished secondary school, Felicite gave me a place to continue

playing, helping me become the first female referee in Rwanda. She gave me the motivation

to become a role model.”92

Felicite has shown that, given the right conditions, football can promote gender

equality in Rwanda. FSCOs should learn from Felicite‟s success by adding female role

models to their staff and more actively seeking out female participants. Again, the type of

setting matters. Different spaces will produce different outcomes, and thus far AKWOS is the

only organization that has created the right type of football setting to promote gender equality

for a wide range of young Rwandan women. One female member of Rwanda‟s parliament

argues that “cultural barriers have diminished,” and therefore it has become easier for females

to participate in sport.93

To some extent, that may be true. But the lack of female participants

at FSCOs suggests there is more to do. Ultimately, football can promote gender equality, but

only in spaces in which girls are playing and football‟s values are reinforced through open

discussions.

VI. Conclusion

Football cannot be conceptualized as one activity that will always produce the same

outcome. There is not one type of football, and there is not one type of pitch. Only certain

ones that create spaces for post-match discussions and attract girls to the pitch have the

potential to promote unity and gender equality. Ultimately, a specific set of conditions must

be in place: players must be willing participants, value-based lessons must accompany

matches, and the spaces in which post-match discussions are held must be safe and open for

debate.

92

Grace, op.cit. 93

Aline, Parliamentarian, 4/16/15.

54

Rwanda‟s situation is unique. While it has been stable for more than two decades,

social tensions persist (Hintjens, 2008; Hilker, 2009). The government has promoted peace

and reconciliation by creating tradition-inspired peacebuilding institutions, but its invention of

a specific version of history and its suppression of dissent has made it difficult for its citizens

to debate, discuss, and reconcile. Therefore, the success of FSCOs seeking to promote peace

in Rwanda depends on their ability to create a space for open and safe discussions.

This dissertation has outlined hypotheses that can be tested in the future and in other

contexts. Rwanda is a fascinating setting, but it is just one case. Scholars should go beyond

Rwanda to see how the two causal pathways – the values of football and the football pitch as

an open setting – influence footballers in other types of societies. In less controlled states, is it

easier to create an open space for discussion? If so, are FSCOs more likely to be effective? At

the same time, are there other barriers that do not exist in Rwanda? How difficult is it to

attract girls to the pitch? These are the types of questions additional research should address

so that SDP‟s romanticized discourse can be clarified with more rigorous, evidence-based

research.

SDP initiatives have surfaced across Africa, most of them invoking President

Mandela‟s declaration that “sport has the power to change the world” as justification for their

existence (Mandela, 2000). Unfortunately, the vague nature of President Mandela‟s statement

is reflected in the way many of these SDP programs operate. Too many SDP proponents see

sport in a single dimension – seemingly blinded from its nuanced reality – and thus they

continue implementing “ill-defined interventions with hard to follow outcomes” (Coalter

2010, 296). But if SDP initiatives are to contribute meaningfully to peacebuilding in post-

conflict states, they must pay more attention to the type of spaces they are creating. Only

55

when those spaces allow sport‟s values to be reinforced by open discussions will sport have

the potential to promote peace.

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