The only four African women leaders to address the UN General Assembly

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first African female Head of State in 2005 and the first female president in all of Africa.

She was the first democratically elected president following 14 years of a deadly civil war during the reign of the now incarcerated former President Charles Taylor, who was ousted by rebels in 2003.

Sirleaf was the first African woman leader to address the UN General Assembly in 2006 and requested that she not be the last. She stated that “the next generation must belong to women.” She also mentioned the fact that Liberia was stable and peaceful following the war, and was taking steps to fix the country’s infrastructure problems.

As an ardent advocate for democracy, Sirleaf was the first woman to run the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Africa in 1992.

In 2007, she was presented with the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian award. She also received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, awarded jointly with fellow Liberian Leymah Gbowee and Yemen’s Tawakkol Karman “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work”, said the citation.

The Liberian economy thrived under Sirleaf and her administration found success in negotiating for debt relief from international creditors.