Ethiopia Elects First Female President, Sahle-Work Zewde

• Ethiopia Elects First Female President, Sahle-Work Zewde

Ethiopia elected its first female president on Thursday, just days after approving one of the world’s few ‘gender-balanced’ Cabinets.

The new president, Sahle-Work Zewde, succeeds Mulatu Teshome in a well-celebrated post.

“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 normalizes women as decision-makers in public life,” the chief of staff for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a Twitter post.

Last week, the lawmakers had approved a new Cabinet comprising of 50 percent female ministers, including the country’s first female defence minister.

Sahle-Work called the country’s transfer of power to the reformist prime minister ‘ exemplary’ and promised to bring together all sides to promote pice in Africa’s second most populous country.

The moves are the latest in sweeping political and economic reforms in Africa’s second most populous country since Abiy took office in April following months of nationwide anti-government protests demanding wider freedoms.

Sahle-Work has worked within various United Nations organs and was the first director-general of the U.N. office in Nairobi.

Until recently she was the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative to the African Union.