First Women President of Liberia: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

In a man-driven world, if I may call it so, an achievement of any scale made by a woman is, to me personally, an enormous subject of pride. I sincerely believe that any achievement, even the smallest ones about which the world will never know, made by a woman is a significant step towards the elimination of stereotypes about gender roles in the society because each achievement affects at least one life. Pursuing professional goals, applying for scholarship fundings, and climbing up the career ladder women frequently face unfair and ungrounded criticism that, unfortunately, may come even from their loved ones.

Unarguably, the concept of feminism is gaining more and more supporters day by day and its impact is growing on different levels and fields. However, despite the fact that Western societies have significant progress in achieving gender equality, there are still many nations suffering from discrimination. I come from a nation where people still stick to the 'man is a breadwinner, woman is a homemaker’ notion.

In a society like mine, ambitious women are considered to be ‘too masculine’ and their ambitions to be a flaw.

Undoubtedly, there is an inconceivable number of women whose names and accomplishments deserve to be known by the whole world and to focus the attention of my reader on only one particular woman was not of the easiest tasks for me.

I would like to dedicate this essay to a truly skillful diplomat, politician, and amazingly strong woman – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – the first woman to be elected as a President of an African state.

As for a Political Science and International Relations student coming from a patriarchal state where men constitute 90% of the parliament, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is pure inspiration to me. By this, I by no means undervalue other legendary women politicians like Madeleine Albright, Margaret Thatcher, Nancy Pelosi, and many others who made a huge contribution both for their states and for the international community.  

At the beginning of my studies at the university, I did a little research of my own about female politicians that play or played in the past, a role in world politics and international relations. I was truly inspired to have learned about so many powerful women and that gave me a huge boost in my studies.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was, at that moment, one of the names that sealed in my head. Sirleaf is known as an African ‘Iron Lady’ and is the first female president in an African state – Liberia. She is an active promoter of peace, justice, democracy, and equal rights for women. She is the Nobel Prize winner for her efforts in promoting women’s rights.

Ellen Johnson started her career as a politician after obtaining a master’s degree from Harvard University. During Samuel K. Doe’s military dictatorship, Sirleaf has been imprisoned twice as a result of her conflict with the head of the state. After criticizing the military government, she was arrested but released with a condition of leaving the country.

During her exile, Liberia collapsed into a civil war. Only in 1997, after a truce that was reached in the civil conflict, Ellen Johnson was able to return to her country and run for president. However, she lost the elections and was soon repeatedly exiled with an accusation of treason. Liberia's civil war was resumed and after successfully running for President in 2005, Sirleaf became the first-ever female president of an African state. 

As a newly elected president, she had a post-civil war state under her responsibility and faced serious challenges. Consequences of the civil war were severe – collapsed economy, destroyed infrastructure, dysfunctional institutions, and enormous debts.

Despite all the seriousness of the situation, Sirleaf took everything under her control and managed to overcome the difficulties. She had a strong belief that women need to participate more in leading the state and that women will lead the world to peace and stability.

Sirleaf decided to appoint women to important positions. Thus, she appointed a female economist from the World Bank as the Minister of Finance, a female Minister of Foreign Affairs in order to improve bilateral and multilateral relationships, a female Minister of Gender to ensure the protection and participation of women in society and politics.

As a result of Sirleaf’s strategic actions, Liberia started recovering from the civil war. At the end of 2012, Liberia’s economic growth had peaked at nine percent, infrastructure was being rebuilt very fast, governmental institutions were functioning again, the debt of 4.9 billion was canceled, and good relationships with International Monetary Fund, World Bank, African Development Bank, other African and non-African nations were rebuilt. 

The former president herself comments on the fact that it was women who rebuilt the state with the following statement:

‘Women had been those who suffered most in our civil conflict, and women had been the ones to resolve it’.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, after serving as a president for two terms, stepped down in the 2017 elections. During her tenure, Sirleaf faced a lot of criticism but always stayed loyal to her own beliefs and decisions. In one of her speeches, she expressed no regrets for her decisions and her satisfaction with their results.

Even now, at the age of 81, Ellen Johnson is still working to promote equal rights for women. Recently, she announced the launch of the Center for Women and Development in order to inspire and prepare women for taking up the leading roles.

Powerful and rod women like Ellen Johnson Sirleaf push me to believe in myself and my ambitions despite the fear of facing many hindrances while climbing up the career ladder. 

Based on this story of Sirleaf’s life, I can claim that it took one woman to rebuild a whole state.