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CBS News reports that Sahle-Work Zewde was unanimously elected on Thursday as the first female Ethiopian president by African legislators.
Sahle-Work Zewde, who has worked as a diplomat for several UN organizations, will succeed Mulatu Teshome, who resigned from the presidency on Wednesday.
Zewde is the United Nations Special Representative to the African Union since June.
She was also the first Director General of the United Nations Office in Nairobi.
Specific details about Teshome's resignation remain uncertain, but many believe it is the result of continuing negotiations between ruling political parties after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Cabinet shuffle cabinet, CNN reported on Wednesday.
Teshome took office in 2013, leading the country through several outbreaks of ethnic violence.
Abiy is considered a progressive political leader in Ethiopia. He has filled half of the country's ministerial seats, named the country's prime minister of defense, and released several imprisoned journalists since taking office last April.
Abyy's chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, expressed the Prime Minister's support for the election of Zewde.
"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, "Arega said Thursday.
