Admin l Thursday, October 25, 2018
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Members of Parliament in Ethiopia today elected Sahle-Work Zewde as its first female president. She has been sworn in after which she swore to work hard to make gender equality a reality in Ethiopia.
While addressing parliament, she said she will promote peace in Ethiopia. “I urge you all, to uphold our peace, in the name of a mother, who is the first to suffer from the absence of peace.”
Ms Sahle-Work was voted President after the unexpected resignation of her predecessor, Mulatu Teshome.
The prime minister’s chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, tweeted that “in a patriarchal society such as ours, the appointment of a female head of state not only sets the standard for the future but also normalises women as decision-makers in public life”.
President Sahle-Work was Ethiopia’s ambassador to Senegal and Djibouti. She has also held a number of UN positions, including head of peace-building in the Central African Republic (CAR).
