A dataset related to the Batwa’s Right to Recognition as a Minority and Indigenous People in Rwanda

This codebook of data is related to the study conducted on the Batwa’s Rights to Recognition as a Minority and Indigenous People in Rwanda through the Lens of a Human Rights Based Approach. The dataset displays information in 7 columns. The first column is called <b><i>Code level 1</i></b> which consists of the main code extracted from the findings, the second column is <b><i>code level 2</i></b> which consists of sub-codes extracted from code level 1 and the third column is called <b><i>code level 3</i></b> which is extracted from code level 2. The 4^th column provides a snapshot of definition of the content of the codes. The column 5 concerns what the codes should include and the 6th column concerns what the codes should not include. The 7^th column concerns the types of questions asked to respondents based on which codes were generated. These codes were generated following data extracted from questionnaire summarized in 7^th column. For example, the first column (Code level 1) is made of 4 rows. The first two rows concern findings from the literature review and the last two rows concern empirical data from the fieldwork. Both data from literature review and empirical data from the fieldwork were combined to come up with findings based on which an interpretation was made. These codes allowed the researchers to give meaningful findings which in return facilitated researchers to provided a consolidated interpretation. The data generated aligned to epistemological interpretivism and they concern views from respondents on socio-cultural narratives and emotional experiences that the they have endured in their lives. The data collection was conducted in three rural districts of Nyaruguru (southern province), Rubavu and Rutsiro (western Province) and in three urban districts of Nyarugenge, Kicukiro and Gasabo (Kigali City). The justification for the three rural and three urban districts was to find out if there were divergent socio-cultural realities within each and across the diverse settings. The selected rural sites were those near protected areas from where the Batwa were the subjects of eviction following the legislation of protected areas in 1930 by colonial authorities. The urban districts were the sites in which some Batwa had lived after the imposition of a new lifestyle which differs from their hunting and gathering tradition following their eviction from forests. The study sites were purposively selected through the facilitation of gatekeepers namely, local entities. Authorization was sent to the district level which subsequently allowed a team of researchers to approach the sector, the cell and the village levels of administration. At the village level, which is the lowest entity where households of HMP live, respondents were again identified through the help of the Chief of the Village (<i>umudugudu</i>) who served as a gatekeeper.Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) along with direct observation were administered to the members of HMP (formerly referred to as Batwa). The groups comprised individuals who were above the age of 18 years, and were deemed to have experienced hardship as result of socio-economic vulnerability resulting from forest eviction. In-depth interviews were also carried out with officials of selected public institutions, including officials from the National Commission of Unity and Reconciliation and the National Commission of Human Rights. Key informants’ interviews (KIIs) were administered to leaders from NGOs and cooperative societies working towards the promotion of the rights of HMPs. These included one top manager and another who used to among the top managers of Cooperative des Potiers au Rwanda (COPORWA), a local NGO advocating for the rights of Batwa in Rwanda as well as one person who used to be among the leaders of CAURWA (Communauté des Autochtones au Rwanda, translated as Community of Autochthonies in Rwanda). The latter was also among one of the founding pioneers of a local NGO advocating for the rights of the Batwa in Rwanda. A former representative of HMP in Rwanda’s Senate was also contacted for an in-depth interview.All respondents were purposively selected due to their expertise or lived experience on the subject of self-identity and non-discrimination. Key informants from COPORWA, and a representative of the HMP in the Rwandan Senate and authorities from the government were to provide information on convergences or divergences on the phenomenon under investigation.In total, 226 respondents divided into four categories were approached for feedback. These were 220 heads of households from HMP for FGDs and direct observation; 3 leaders from COPORWA for in-depth interviews; 1 ex-Senator representing HMP in Rwanda Senate for an in-depth interview including 2 authorities from governmental institutions. The aim of using different tools for different respondents was to not only get a wide range of perceptions on the subject matter of self-identity and non-discrimination under investigation, but to enable the triangulation of information. FGDs along with direct observation facilitated the exploration of opinions and observation of behaviour and body language of the respondents when a sensitive issue, such as discrimination, was mentioned. As ethical consideration, all respondents were requested for their consent prior to data collection. All interviews were guided by the principle of ‘theoretical saturation’, which consists of administering inquiry until respondents start to repeat themselvesTo meet the reliability and validity of data, some measures were taken. Meetings were held every morning to plan for the day and every evening to evaluate the day spent in the field. For each day of data collection, the data collectors gave a daily report highlighting the progress made and any special information relating to the subject matter under investigation, which was observed from the field. The study used thematic analysis embedded in a deductive approach guided by the human rights-based approach in which two variables of self-identity and non-discrimination were the focus of study. The human rights-based approach facilitated generating data around themes related to self-identity and non-discrimination.In short, findings around the Batwa’s rights to self-identity and to non-discrimination indicated different information over the two variables. On the self-identity, findings indicated that the identity of the Batwa has been shifting because of socio-cultural dynamics affecting the contexts in which they find themselves and live. For example, the name “HMP” which conflate all vulnerable groups in Rwanda provides divergent views for respondents. For ordinary respondents from the Batwa, the name provides a negative profile while for the elites from Batwa the name means obscuring their problems since it disconnects from other indigenous people across Africa and the World. For respondents from the GoR, the name means upholding unit and reconciliation. Findings from the data indicated also that the identity Batwa has been characterised with negative profile of someone who is the poorest, dirty, indigent because of their lowest social status resulting from non-dominant context. This reality corroborates other recent studies that the identity of the Batwa does not have a fixed boundary.On the variable of non-discrimination, findings from the data indicated that negative profiles mentioned above are forms of indirect discrimination resulting from microaggressions and stereotypes. For further information how to use the dataset kindly contact the correspondent author at: [e-mail], tel: [phone]