President Ellen Johnson sirleaf of Liberia
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was born in central Monrovia in 1938 and has led a distinguished career spanning nearly four decades in the private and public domain in Liberia and internationally.
After years of fighting for freedom, justice and equality in Liberia, spending time in jail and being forced into exile more than once, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is now entrusted with the most challenging task any Liberian leader has ever faced rebuilding a post-conflict nation.
On November 23, they confirmed their decision saying that Johnson Sirleaf had won with a margin of almost 20% of the vote.
President Johnson Sirleaf is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an International network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.
Johnson Sirleaf is the second elected black female head of state in the world, the second female leader of Liberia after Ruth Perry (who assumed leadership after an overthrow), and the fifth black female head of government, after Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia, Eugenia Charles of Dominica, Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi and Agathe Uwilingiyimana of Rwanda.
Monrovia, Liberia - President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has inspected a project site on the Robertsfield Highway where construction for a school, primarily for orphans, is well underway.
Monrovia, Liberia - Senior officials from Nimba County including leading members of the Mandingo ethnic group within Nimba have held a meeting in Monrovia with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Abuja, Nigeria - President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has commended the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for engaging the ruling CNDD military junta in Guinea, while rejecting the coup detat which brought them to power.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has four sons.
The first woman ever elected head of an African state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in as the president of Liberia on 16 January 2006.
A long-standing opponent to such tyrants, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has twice been jailed, barely escaped assassination and the firing squad, and has endured forced exile.
President Johnson Sirleaf is not without company among women in Africa, but she holds the most visible role.
The “Iron Lady,” as Johnson Sirleaf is also known, has recognized African women's tireless labor for peace, and has promised “to give Liberian women prominence in all affairs of our country.
A Liberian-born, Harvard-educated grandmother of eight, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been jailed, charged with treason, exiled to Nigeria and the US.
pd_top('Story','html40','10865705','Liberian becomes Africa\'s first female president','Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in Monday as Liberia’s new president, carving her name into history as Africa’s first elected female head of state.
MONROVIA, Liberia - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in Monday as war-battered Liberia's new president, making history as Africa's first elected female head of state and pledging a "fundamental break" with the West African nation's violent past.
A charismatic, Harvard-educated leader in Liberian politics since the early 1970s, Johnson Sirleaf is the first woman to serve as the elected president of any African nation.
the Assistant Minister of Finance before later becoming Minister of Finance.
Known as Africa’s “Iron Lady,” Johnson Sirleaf is widely acknowledged as a determined advocate for peace, justice, and democratic rule Liberia.
Prior to her election, Johnson Sirleaf had spent more than a year in jail during the military dictatorship of Gen.
Winning a run-off election by a margin of 20 percent, Johnson Sirleaf was inaugurated on Jan 16, 2006.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has vowed to audit the more than 300 members of the previous government and as such, she has ruled that they cannot travel abroad until the auditing is completed.
Prior to becoming president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf had indicated both her disgust at the rate of corruption in Liberia and her willingness to eradicate it.
Barely a month in office, the speed and level at which president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is tackling the corruption issue in Liberia has baffled those involved in the practice and encouraged anti-corruption campaigners worldwide.
President Johnson Sirleaf has appointed Frances Johnson Morris, Chairperson of the Liberian National Elections Commission, NEC, as the new Minister of Justice.
Yusuf and the American as Army Chief and Senior Military Advisor respectively, President Johnson Sirleaf said she decided to accept the bilateral assistance from Nigeria and the US because the challenges of maintaining credible peace and security are elusive without the support of regional and international partners.
In an attempt, ostensibly, to prioritize meritocracy over ethnicity, tribalism or party allegiance, President Johnson Sirleaf has been appointing people with varying caliber in the hope that they would be veritable partners in nation building.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has ordered the release of a number of prisoners in a gesture marking the holidays.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has expressed serious concern over the current situation ensuing at neighboring Guinea following the death of President Lansana Conte who died as a result of brief illness.
Iron Lady Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the first African woman to command a national army.