Uwilingiyimana was a member of the Hutu tribe in Rwanda. Well educated, she started her career as a chemistry teacher before entering politics. Her rise was meteoric, joining the MDR opposition party in 1992, and quickly appointed Minister of Education. In mid-1993 she became prime minister under a power sharing scheme negotiated by the President of Rwanda and the five major opposition parties.

The Rwandan government was Hutu dominated, and had the daunting task of trying to negotiate a peace accord with the rebel Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), the Tutsi-dominated guerilla movement. An agreement between President Habyarimana, the five opposition parties (led ostensibly by Uwilingiyimana), and the RPF, was finally reached in August 1993 although talks continued inconclusively for several more months.

The talks between President Habyarimana, Uwilingiyimana, and the Rwandan Patriotic Front were never concluded, because Habyarimana's plane was shot down on 6 April 1994. In an interview on the night of President Habyarimana's assassination, Uwilinigiyimana said that there would be an immediate investigation.

A 15 member UN peacekeeping force protected her house, but they were surrounded and forced to surrender to the presidential guard. Fearing for the safety of her children, Uwilingiyimana and her husband surrendered to the presidential guard and were immediately murdered. The members of the UN security force were castrated and murdered.

Her murder was one of the early deaths in the horrific Rwandan genocide that followed.

This woman could've been great for the country of Rwanda; instead, her life ended in tragedy.