Ethiopia elects first female President

25 Oct 2018

In yet another historic move, and just days after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed named a new gender-balanced Cabinet, Ambassador Sahle-Work Zewde has been appointed as the fourth President of Ethiopia, replacing the outgoing President, Dr. Mulatu Teshome.

The decision was made by a unanimous vote during a special joint session of Ethiopia’s two legislative houses of parliament – the House of Peoples’ Representatives and the House of Federation.

A seasoned diplomat, Ambassador Sahle-Work becomes Ethiopia’s first female president and, currently, the only female head of state in Africa, although in a ceremonial role.

As president, and as per the Ethiopian Constitution, Ambassador Sahle-Work can expect to serve two six-year terms.

In her inaugural address to Parliament, the newly-appointed President committed to working for the cause of peace in the country while to exert every effort to make gender equality a reality in Ethiopia.

“We have no other option than peace to realise the vision of building a great nation,” she said. “If the current change in Ethiopia is headed equally by both men and women, it can sustain its momentum and realise a prosperous Ethiopia free of religious, ethnic and gender discrimination.”

“The reform is expected to be complex and to have multiple challenges,” the President said, adding that the joint efforts and unity of the government and other political parties is required to overcome these challenges.

She thanked outgoing President Mulatu Teshome, who resigned from his post on 24th October, for his services to the country during the past five years. Dr Mulatu resigned one year ahead of his term ending, saying he wanted to be part of change and reforms taking place in the country.

“By example, President Mulatu has shown us what role we can play for the sake of the reforms,” she said, adding “I hope other leaders at all levels will follow suit.”

…A seasoned diplomat

Ambassador Sahle-Work brings a wealth of experience to the position. Immediately prior to being appointed president, Ambassador Sahle-Work was serving as the Special Representative of UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, to the African Union and Head of the UN Office to the African Union – the first woman to be appointed to that position.

She served as Ambassador of Ethiopia to Senegal, with accreditation to Mali, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Guinea, from 1989 to 1993.

From 1993 to 2002, she was Ethiopian Ambassador to Djibouti and Permanent Representative to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

She later served as Ambassador to France, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and was accredited to Tunisia and Morocco from 2002 to 2006.

Ambassador Sahle-Work has also held a number of other high-level positions including Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and as Director-General for African Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.

In 2011, Ambassador Sahle-Work was appointed to the position of Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Latest News

Browse all
27 Feb 2024
Notice
የኢ.ፌ.ዴ.ሪ. ኤምባሲ ለንደን የሚሸፍናቸው ሀገራት ነዋሪ ለሆናችሁ ሁለተኛ ትውልድ ኢትዮጵያውያን እና ትውልደ ኢትዮጵያውያን የቀረበ ታላቅ ሀገራዊ ጥሪ! ክቡር የኢ.ፌ.ዴ.ሪ. ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ዶ/ር ዐቢይ አሕመድ ሁለተኛው ትውልድ የኢትዮጵያ ዳያስፖራዎች በሦስት ዙር ወደ ሀገራቸው በመግባት ኢትዮጵያን እንዲጎበኙ እና የባህል መሠረታቸውን እንዲያውቁ የቀረበውን ጥሪ በመቀበል የመጀመሪያው ዙር የጉዞ መርሃ ግብር የተጀመረ ሲሆን በዚህም በመላው ዓለም የሚገኙ በርካታ ኢትዮጵያውያን እና ትውልደ ኢትዮጵያውያን ወደ ሀገራቸው…
11 Jan 2024
Back To Your Origins
UK pledges to increase dev’t aid to 200 mln Euros Ethiopia and United Kingdom (UK) have finalized to ink the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to scale up the diplomatic ties to strategic partnership level, said Ethiopian Ambassador to UK. In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald, Ethiopian Ambassador to the UK Teferi Melesse said that the activities are ongoing…
9 Jan 2024
Ethiopia-UK ties to enter ‘new era’
The Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in London wishes you a joyful holiday season and prosperous New Year.
31 Dec 2023
Happy New Year 2024!
we extend our warmest invitation to you for the highly anticipated 1st Dire International Technology Expo 2024. As an influential figure in the technology sector, your presence at this groundbreaking event would be highly valued. Date: Jan 24 to Jan 28 / 2024 Venue: Dire Dawa Youth Sports Center Website: http://www.direinttechexpo.com The first Dire International Technology Expo 2024 is poised…
27 Dec 2023
Dire International Tech Expo
22 Dec 2023
Festive Message from Ambassador Teferi Melesse Desta
በለንደን የኢ.ፌ.ዴ.ሪ ኤምባሲ አስተባባሪነት ከዩናይትድ ኪንግደም ከሚገኙ የንግድና ዘርፍ ማህበራት ጋር በመቀናጀት እ.ኤ.አ ከዲሴምበር 13-15/2023 ባዘጋጀው የልምድ ልውውጥ ፕሮግራም 11 አባላትን የያዘ የኢትዮጵያ ንግድና ዘርፍ ማህበራት ምክር ቤት የልዑካን ቡድን በለንደን ከተማ ከሚገኙ 3 የብሪታንያ የንግድ ምክር ቤቶች ጋር የልምድ ልውውጥና የትብብር ግንኙነት ውይይት አደረጉ፡፡ ሶስቱ የንግድ ም/ቤቶች የብሪቲሽ ንግድ ም/ቤት፤ የብርቲሽ-ኢትዮጵያ ንግድ ም/ቤትና የለንደን ንግድ ም/ቤት ናቸው። በሶስቱም መድረኮች…
15 Dec 2023
የኢትዮጵያ ንግድና ዘርፍ ማህበራት ምክር ቤት የልዑካን ቡድን የለንደን ቆይታ
7 Dec 2023
Notice
The main office of the Global Black History, Heritage, and Education Centre (GBHHEC) will be officially established in Addis Ababa on Friday, December 08, 2023. Lead by Ambassador Teferi Melesse, Ethiopian Ambassador to the United Kingdom and North Ireland, a delegation of founding board members of the Global Black History, Heritage, and Education Centre (GBHHEC) landed in Addis Ababa. Director…
6 Dec 2023
Ethiopia will remain the center of important historical, cultural, and diplomatic initiatives.
በኤፕሪል 1973 ወደ ዩናይትድ ኪንግደም በረራውን ቦይንግ 720-ቢ አውሮፕላን በመጠቀም በሳምንት ለሁለት ቀናት የጀመረው የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ በአሁኑ ወቅት አጅግ ዘመናዊ የሆኑ ኤርባስ 350 እና ቢ787 ድሪምላይነር አውሮፕላኖችን በመጠቀም በሳምንት ለአስር ጊዜያት በቀጥታ በረራ እያካሄደ መሆኑ ተመልክቷል፡፡ በዚህም ከአስር ሺህ በላይ መንገደኞችን ወደ 60 አለም አቀፍ መዳረሻዎች እያጓጓዘ መሆኑን በዩናይትድ ኪንግደም እና አየርላንድ የአየር መንገዱ ጽ/ቤት አስታውቋል፡፡ በለንደን ሂትሮ እና…
23 Nov 2023
የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ ወደ ዩናይትድ ኪንግደም የሚያደርገውን በረራ በሳምንት ወደ አስር ጊዜያት ማሳደጉን አስታወቀ፡፡
On the sidelines of the Global Food Security Summit the Ethiopian Ambassador to UK H.E. Ambassador Teferi Melesse Desta met with British International Investment and AgDevCo to discuss potential investment and collaboration in Ethiopia. The Ambassador commended the work done with EthioChicken and explained the robust potential Ethiopia has attract even more investment.
21 Nov 2023
Ambassador Teferi met with BII and AgDevCo
We are excited to announce the inaugural flight of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa to Gatwick Airport landed earlier today! This new route marks an important milestone in Ethiopian Airlines commitment to providing convenient and seamless travel options for passengers between the UK and Ethiopia. We look forward to welcoming you on board as we connect the vibrant city of…
21 Nov 2023
Ethiopian Airlines Started new route to London Gatwick Airport.