Sahle-Work Zewde


Sahle-Work Zewde is an Ethiopian politician who is the current President of Ethiopia and the first woman to hold the office. A career diplomat, she was elected president unanimously by members of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly on 25 October 2018.
Sahle-Work was previously Special Representative of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union at the level of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
In December 2019, Sahle-Work was named the 93rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes, and the highest-ranking African woman on the list.

Early life and education

Born in Addis Ababa, Sahle-Work attended elementary and secondary school at Lycée Guebre-Mariam in Addis Ababa, after which she studied natural science at the University of Montpellier, France. She is fluent in Amharic, French, and English.

Career

Diplomatic career

Sahle-Work was only the second woman to be appointed an ambassador in Ethiopia's history.
A veteran in the Ethiopian foreign service, Sahle-Work served as Ambassador to Senegal, with accreditation to Mali, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Guinea, from 1989 to 1993. From 1993 to 2002, she was Ambassador to Djibouti and Permanent Representative to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. She later served as Ambassador to France, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and was accredited to Tunisia and Morocco from 2002 to 2006.
Sahle-Work subsequently held other high level positions including Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and Director-General for African Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.

Career with the United Nations

Until 2011, Sahle-Work served as Special Representative of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peace-building Office in the Central African Republic.
In 2011, Ban appointed Sahle-Work as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi. Under Sahle-Work, the Nairobi office became a more important UN hub for East and Central Africa, according to the 2012 Africa Yearbook.
In June 2018, Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Sahle-Work as his Special Representative to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union at the level of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. She was the first woman to hold the post.

President of Ethiopia

Sahle-Work was appointed as President of Ethiopia on 25 October 2018, the first woman to serve in the role and the fourth president since the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front coalition was elected in the newly established Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in 1995. She replaced Mulatu Teshome, who resigned in unclear circumstances, and Sahle-Work is expected to serve two six-year terms.
Although her role is largely ceremonial, Sahle-Work's election made her Ethiopia's first female head of state since Empress Zewditu. As of 2019, she is Africa's only serving female head of state.
On 25 March 2020, Sahle-Work announced on Twitter that she has pardoned more than 4,000 prisoners in a move to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia. She also pardoned more than 1,500 prisoners on 2 April 2020.