Out of Africa
EmailMore of my international roundup and some stunning news from Africa. Here’s a quick quiz. If you had to guess which of the following countries had more women in elected office which would it be:
Peru, France, USA, Rwanda, Germany or Belarus?
It’s Rwanda, of course. A country torn apart by civil war just over a decade ago and where the average annual income is just $1600 tops the world list in number of female representatives.
What’s more amazing according to this story from the BBC, Rwanda has just become the first country in the world where women Members of Parliament outnumber men!
By the way, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the United States comes in at a lowly number 69 in the ranking of countries with female elected officials – that’s just below Uzbekistan and just above Turkmenistan. Not the best of company.
Katty
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Well, if we were number 2, we’d be right behind Rwanda. That’s not “the best of company” either. I don’t see the point the article is trying to make. Maybe there isn’t one.
Posted by: Dave | September 17, 2008, 2:01 pm 2:01 pm
Or maybe the point is, “Don’t elect women to public office or we’ll end up like Rwanda!” That’s a joke, folks. haha.
Posted by: Dave | September 17, 2008, 2:04 pm 2:04 pm
Ha, ha. Funny joke :(
I would think, from a global and historical perspective, women’s voices are and always have severely under-represented. First, from a biological perspective, women have a far greater investment in reproduction due to the length of time of gestation. Men simply deposit half the seed and can walk away where as women cannot. Second, as the primary “keepers of the home”, cooking, cleaning, raising children, raising food, often working to earn minuscule wages, women often have a greater understanding of the family needs. According to the Rwanada Parlamentary law, one third of Parlament must be represented by women as it is believed women will not allow the mass killings of the past to happen. Does that make Rwanda “bad company”?
Posted by: Debra | September 18, 2008, 8:51 am 8:51 am
When will I see the day when any of these GD reporters weather they be foriegn or domestic stand up and say something positive about the United States. Does any body really give a s_ _t about Rwanda except maybe Hussein? I just hope that the women of the US are paying attention to all the female bashing going on since Palin entered the fray. Think about it on election day when you cast your vote.
Posted by: bombem | October 2, 2008, 9:01 am 9:01 am