Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the first woman who has been elected president in the history of all African countries and is certainly one of the most esteemed and influential women of our time. After years of civil war in Liberia, women across the country joined forces to make her presidency possible and bring change to the government.
Civil war began in Liberia in the late 80s and continued through the early 2000s, resulting in the deaths of several hundred thousands of rebels and soldiers and the mistreatment of women and children in Liberia. According to an article written by Martina Schwikowski from Deutsche Welle News, during the 14 years of war, nearly 70 percent of women were raped, and children were “turned into killing machines.” Times like these brought women together during the election of 2005. Women stole voter identification cards and waited for days to submit their votes for Sirleaf. Her election was a symbol of hope for Liberia.
Sirleaf is now completing her second term and stepping down from her position as president. In the twelve years that Sirleaf was president, she was able to accomplish many things for her country. She has been facing the criticism of the public because she was unable to bring the country out of poverty and has also been accused of nepotism for appointing two of her sons in high government positions.
However, none of these claims negate that fact that Sirleaf was in fact able to quadruple the country’s Gross Domestic Product and maintain peace in a war-torn country for the 12 years that she was president. She also brought Liberia to the attention of many large worldwide organizations such at the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and UNICEF during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. With the severe lack of resources and medical services in Liberia, Sirleaf was able to control the outbreak considerably well.
Her greatest accomplishment is reinforcing democracy in Liberia. She is the only African president since 1944 who has stepped down from her position. On an interview with CNN, Sirleaf said that her stepping down from presidency is meant to be a strong signal towards other African presidents that it is time for generational change. “We have young people that are viable, that have the capacity, that have the passion, and the capability,” Sirleaf said “It’s time for them to take over. If we want to practice democracy, which we all want to do, then we’ve got to do it by example.”
