That Ethiopia’s parliament has approved Sahle-Work Zewde as the country’s new president is no longer news as she leads the country’s democracy after t
That Ethiopia’s parliament has approved Sahle-Work Zewde as the country’s new president is no longer news as she leads the country’s democracy after the former president, Mulatu Teshome Wirtu, tendered his resignation to parliament on Wednesday. Wirtu had been president since 2013. We highlight some of her unique selling points that made her the preferred choice to lead the nation.
- She is the first woman to hold such a position
- Sahle-Work Zewde was before her appointment, a senior official of U.N. In 2011, she was appointed to the position of Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. She was the first person to hold the post at the level of Under-Secretary-General.
- She is a career diplomat and was once Ambassador to Senegal, with accreditation to Mali, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Guinea, from 1989 to 1993.
- Sahle-Work Zewde studied natural science at the University of Montpellier, France.
- She is fluent in Amharic, French and English.
- From 1993 to 2002, she was Ambassador to Djibouti and Permanent Representative to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
- Sahle-Work Zwede served as Ambassador to France, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and accredited to Tunisia and Morocco from 2002 to 2006.
- She served as Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peace Building Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA). Previously, she also held a number of other high level positions including as Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and as Director-General for African Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.
- She is 68 years old
