This Day in History: 23 November 2019
14 years ago, today, marks the moment that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was elected as the president of Liberia, making her the first woman ever to lead an African country. She first ran for presidency in 1997, but finished second to Charles Taylor, and was forced into exile for the second time when his government charged her with treason. Sirleaf then returned to Liberia again in 2003 after the civil war had resumed 6 years earlier, and Taylor was now in exile himself.
In 2005, she ran for presidency again, as a candidate of the Unity Party and promised to end civil strife, corruption, establish unity and rebuild the country’s ruins. She became known as the “Iron Lady”, and came second in the first round of voting, behind George Weah, a former footballer. In the following election, she beat Weah with 19% more votes than him. On 23 November 2005, Sirleaf was declared the winner and confirmed as the country’s next president.
As president, she gained millions of dollars from foreign investment and established a Truth and Reconciliation Committee to deal with corruption and treat ethnic tensions, therefore achieving what she promised in her 2005 election.
In 2011, Sirleaf won the Nobel Peace Prize for the year for her non-violent struggle for the safety of women and women’s rights, to full participation in peace-building work.
Want to find out more? Visit https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2011/johnson_sirleaf/biographical/ for more details on Sirleaf’s life and work.
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