ELLEN JOHNSON
BIOGRAPHY:
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born 29 October 1938) is the 24th and current President ofLiberia. She served as Minister of
Finance under President William
Tolbert from 1979 until the 1980 coup d'état, after which she left
Liberia and held senior positions at various financial institutions. She was
one of the founders and the political leader of National Patriotic Front of Liberia,
the warlord Charles Taylor's
party. She placed a very distant second in the 1997 presidential election won by Charles Taylor. She won the 2005 presidential election and took office on 16 January 2006.
She successfully ran for re-election in 2011.
Sirleaf is the first elected female head
of state in Africa.
Sirleaf was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakel Karman of Yemen.
The women were recognized "for their non-violent struggle for the safety
of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.
AWARDS:
§
2009 Awarded the EITI Award for "the rapid progress the country has made towards
implementation of the EITI"
§
2010 Friend of the Media in Africa Award from The African Editor's
Union2011 Awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard University
§ 2011 African Gender Award
Administration and Cabinet
Following her election in 2005,
Sirleaf pledged to promote national reconciliation by bringing in opposition
leaders into her administration. Opposition politicians who joined her initial
administration included Minister of Transport Jeremiah Sulunteh, Minister of
Education Joseph Korto,
and Ambassador to the United Nations Nathaniel
Barnes.
BY DAVID PEREZ AND PABLO LERA
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