Sociology

Currently, there are many women who hold important positions in governments around the world. Research a female who holds an important position in her country. Then write a 400-500 word response which includes the country in which she resides, her political affiliation, her role in the government, the length of time she has been in office, and at least two decisions, laws, or bills that she has been part of during her tenure. Remember, you are conducting research so you must include sources in your discussion.

ANSWER

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

She is a Liberian politician who was in the year 1938. She is a politician and an economist and was the Liberian president from the year 2006 to 2018. She holds the record as the first African woman to be elected as president in an African country. She was one among the three of the recipients of the 2011 Nobel peace prize (Scully). The Nobel peace prize was for her peaceful efforts to further women’s rights. Her political career started in 1971 after gaining her master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University. She was educated at the college of West Africa in Monrovia and was married at 17 (Scully). She later divorced her husband in 1961 and studied economics and business administration in the United States.

After joining politics, she served as an assistant minister for finance and as a finance minister in her country. She was known for her financial integrity and clashed with the heads of states. She almost got executed during Doe’s reign but narrowly escaped. After a lot of strife and exile, she won the presidential election in 2005 (Scully). As the president, she sought debt amelioration from the international community. By the end of 2010, she had cleared Liberia’s entire debt (Scully).  She also secured a lot of foreign investments in the country. During her tenure, she established a truth and reconciliation committee to heal the ethnic tensions and probe corruption. As a leader, she has received numerous other awards. She also held a position in 2016 at the economic community of West African states as the chair. Africa is a developing continent, and Ellen serves as an example to other women in Africa. She is the epitome that women can become good leaders not only in Africa and all over the world. She is famously known as the iron lady for her achievements.

Works Cited

Scully, Pamela. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Ohio University Press, 2016.