South Africa's president on Wednesday named a trimmed-down Cabinet that is 50% women, making the country's one of few in the world to be "gender-balanced."

President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement followed similar moves by Ethiopia and Rwanda last year.

When the 116th Congress was sworn into office on Thursday, the class made history as the most diverse group ever with a record 127 women.

Among those women was 32-year-old Democrat Lauren Underwood, who etched her name in the history book as the youngest black woman to be elected to Congress.

Barely more than one-third of the members of Zimbabwe’s Parliament are women, and the average age of past election candidates has been over 50. That’s part of what makes Joanah Mamombe, the 25-year-old woman who represents Harare West, exceptional – and her work with young people is already beginning to draw attention in her district.

Recently- re-elected president of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita named 35-year-old Kamissa Camara as the minister for foreign affairs in his recent cabinet reshuffle.

With a rich background in foreign affairs and policies, Camara becomes the first woman to hold this post in the history of Mali.