As we watch the travail of democracy building in Iraq, it's easy to throw up our hands. We'd be better off latching onto examples where innovative thinking is helping countries emerge from chaos into stability.

In the heart of East Africa, Rwanda's first multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections have ushered in a new era of political power for women. Recent news stories focused on the landslide victory of President Paul Kagame. But a story little covered by the mainstream press was Rwanda's guarantee to include women in government.

The story of Anne-Marie Kantengwa illustrates the country's political awakening. During Rwanda's 1994 genocide, she hid in a crawlspace under the roof of a neighbor's house for almost a month, having lost two children, three brothers, and four other family members.

The 100-day massacre left 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead _ a killing rate faster than the Nazi Holocaust. After the murders stopped, Kantengwa emerged with a powerful will to re-build her family's business. Still recovering from shock, she became a leader in Kigali's economic recovery; she heads the Rwandan hotel and restaurant association. Although apolitical before the genocide, she eventually took an active role in politics. In elections held about a week ago, she was one of two dozen women elected to the lower house of parliament.

Her sister writes: "Her small victory symbolizes...the sense of renewal and hope many Rwandans feel right now. Forgive me, good Christians, but she's a hell of a survivor!"

Women's capacity to lead became evident after the genocide, when the surviving population was 70 percent female. The women buried the dead, built shelters, and found homes for nearly 500,000 orphans. They counseled survivors and took over nontraditional businesses such as brick-making and house-building. Today women are 54 percent of the adult population and a majority of working adults. They head a third of all households, and they're raising the next generation while producing most of the nation's food supply.

Once discouraged from seeking positions of influence, women are now encouraged to assume roles as community leaders, entrepreneurs and elected officials. The Kagame administration has taken extraordinary steps to ensure women's involvement in government. A new constitution guarantees that women serve in 30 percent of decision-making posts and reserves a similar portion of seats in the lower house of parliament.

Rwanda also has created local women's councils elected by women only, voting procedures that guarantee seats for women candidates and a government ministry for women to ensure that policies are sensitive to their needs. These pioneering ideas were created under the guidance of the women themselves. They helped draft the new constitution, insisted on the inclusion of women and youth in all levels of government, and formed the first cross-party caucus in parliament. They also initiated programs to address the root causes and effects of the genocide, laying a foundation for reconciliation.

A new study commissioned by Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace (a group I founded) documents the voices Rwandan women have brought to politics. "Strengthening Governance: The Role of Women in Rwanda's Transition," by Elizabeth Powley, documents the dramatic change in that country from only a few years ago, as Rwandan women enter the political arena in unprecedented numbers. But international support is critical to sustain their involvement. The country faces enormous challenges: mass poverty, illiteracy, homelessness, HIV/AIDS. Although Rwanda's elections have been eclipsed by its predominantly one-party system, this tiny nation is an example to the world of a struggling new democracy determined to tap all its resources, including women.

It seems obvious that a nation should draw on 100 percent of its talent pool to be as strong as it might be. Although they were traumatized during the massacre, Rwandan women have acquired a confidence of leadership to help guide the country toward economic revival and political stability.

I asked President Kagame a few years ago if women and men reacted the same way after the genocide. "Not at all," he said. "The women grieved with great emotion, much more than the men. But then they rolled up their sleeves and went to work." His comment made me wonder if the emotionality of women that many consider a weakness is actually a therapeutic step toward passionate re-engagement.

So when we feel like wringing our hands over political messes around the world, let's be humble enough to learn from far away Rwanda. Could their new political system, designed to incorporate women's strength, be a model for the new Iraq? It's worth a second look.

more articles by Swanee Hunt

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