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ADDIS-ABABA, Ethiopia – A week after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed radically overhauled half of his new cabinet, the country's parliament took a step forward in favor of gender parity by appointing the first woman president of the country.
Sahle-Work Zewde, 68, a veteran diplomat who has held positions at the United Nations and participated in peacekeeping operations in Africa, has accepted this position following the unprecedented appointment of women as chiefs of the Ministry of Defense and the secret intelligence agency state body that recently had a facelift. (He is now calling the Ministry of Peace.)
"In a patriarchal society such as ours, the appointment of a woman at the head of the state is not only the norm for the future, but it also normalizes women as decision-makers of the state. public life, Fitsum Arega, the prime minister's chief of staff, said on Twitter.
Although the position of President is considered primarily ceremonial, involving the opening of Parliament and the appointment of ambbadadors, the decision to place Ms. Sahle-Work in this role is of considerable symbolic importance, said Selam Musse, Consultant in gender and media based in Addis Ababa, the capital. .
Having a leader "speaks a lot for women and knocks at every door," she said, "particularly in a country where patriarchy plays a decisive role in the political, social and economic structure of our country's politics. ".
Abiy came to power in April and the appointment of Ms. Sahle-Work, now the only woman head of the African state, is the latest a series of flash changes in Ethiopia. The country has long relied on a model of government that resembles that of China, emphasizing state-led economic growth and suppressing political dissent.
In six months, he officially ended two decades of hostilities with his longtime neighbor and rival, Eritrea, Ethiopia. started to relax a state-controlled economy and opened large industries to foreign investment; promised multiparty elections; released thousands of political prisoners; and allowed leaders of a previously banned opposition group to return to the country.
His latest actions fit into a "reform mentality within the ruling party, a general push to undermine bureaucracy," said Jason Mosley, research badociate at the African Studies Center of the #################################################################################### 39, University of Oxford. "Ethiopia is still, despite all development, a conservative culture on average. It is still predominantly rural and many women do not have the same opportunities as men. "
The sudden changes have eroded old wounds and caused violence in various parts of the country, where ethnic tensions are particularly strong. Nevertheless, it is thought that the appointments of people such as Ms. Sahle-Work, a person relatively unrelated to the internal politics of the ruling coalition, allay worried critics of ethnic or political affiliations that poison effective leadership.
"I am the product of people who fought for equality and political freedom in this country, and I will work hard to serve them," said Ms. Sahle-Work in her speech to Parliament.
She also promised to work on women's issues. "If you thought I was already talking a lot about women, know that I'm just starting out," she said in a quote widely circulated among social media users in Ethiopia.
Ms. Sahle-Work was appointed in June by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, Special Representative to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office at the African Union, Deputy Secretary-General. She was previously Executive Director of the United Nations Office in Nairobi, Kenya.
Ethiopia has made remarkable progress, in a single generation, in increasing the enrollment of girls in primary schools. But he still suffers great disparities between the bades, according to a United Nations study.
According to the study, women are more exposed to diseases than men. Although half of the country's workforce is female, the majority of women are not paid because most of them work as farm workers. Female bad mutilation and child marriages are still prevalent, especially in rural areas, which account for about 80% of the country.
"We need a bold leader who sees women beyond mothers and sisters, but who inspires and lets others become role models," Ms. Selam said.
Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country and a country that, 30 years ago, was synonymous with famine, is more organized, ambitious and centrally controlled than many other governments on the continent. The ruling coalition intends to turn it into a middle-income country. 2025.
Despite the frantic pace of progress, it is still a deeply authoritarian state – although Mr. Mosley has stated that it was precisely what had allowed Mr. Abiy to change things if quickly.
"You can have this kind of radical gender parity revisions in a firm when it's authoritative," Mosley said. "All the trade-offs needed in a more competitive political landscape help to prevent Western democracies from achieving this type of outcome."
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