New breakthrough: Ethiopia appoints first female president

After achieving gender parity in government, Ethiopia’s parliament on Thursday unanimously elected Sahle Work Zewde as the country’s first female head of state after the resignation of President Malato Chome. Zewde is 4th president since the adoption of the 1995 Constitution which states that the president will be elected for a maximum of two 6-year terms. To recall, Zewde is the special representative of the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the African Union, and has served as ambassador of her country to France, Djibouti and Senegal as well as the permanent representative to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the regional bloc of East Africa. Born in Addis Ababa, Zewde, who studied in France, is currently the only female head of state in Africa. In her inaugural address, she welcomed the reforms introduced by prime minister Abiy Ahmed who took office last April, notably his appointment of a cabinet with half the posts taken up by women (c.f: https://goo.gl/1j2DS6). She promised to stress the role of women in promoting peace and upholding their peace accomplishments, calling on the government to end poverty with the full participation of women. (Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, October 26, 2018)

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