Women in Majority in New Rwandan Parliament

With electoral results now available from Rwandan parliamentary elections held earlier this week, it seems clear that there will be a female majorityin the country's next legislature. Rwanda is the first country in the world to accomplish this. Some 55% of the seats in the new parliament will be held for women, well ahead of Sweden and Cuba where women have more than 40% of the legislative seats. This is another encouraging example of progress in human rights in Rwanda. Last year, Rwanda abolished capital punishment. Rwanda may lag behind in other areas, some of this accountable to the legacy of genocide and the extreme underdevelopment of its economy. But here are two areas, at least, where Rwanda scores well ahead of some modern democracies with developed economies.