This is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.

Gender representation in congress has been slowly making strides, with women making up about 23% of all new “freshmen.” But did you know you are more likely to see a woman legislator in Rwanda? Due to a gender quota put in place by the government in 2003, the Rwandan Parliament has made great strides in closing the gender gap across a wide range of measures. The change is especially evident in politics,

where women hold around 60% of all parliament seats. So when will equal representation in the United States catch up? In another 500 years at the current growth rate, according to FairVote, a non-profit advocating for statewide electoral reforms.In the meantime, Rwandan women will be overlooking the beautiful rolling hills of their country side—and certainly not from a glass ceiling.

With thanks to the KU Kansas African Studies Center for this text, this is John Kennedy. Wish you were here.