Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world
ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF, President of the Republic of Liberia, John. F. Kennedy School MC/MPA '71
TICKETED EVENT: Go to http://www.iop.harvard.edu/lottery.php?lottery=sirleaf to enter the lottery. The Lottery will be open from September 12 - 14. Winners will be notified on September 15th. Ticket pick-up will take place on September 15th at the IOP, Kennedy School of Government.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1043500.stm
President: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
US-educated economist and former finance minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won the second round of presidential elections in November 2005 and in January 2006 she was inaugurated as Africa's first elected woman head of state. The poll was intended to draw a line under Liberia's war.
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf - Liberia's "Iron Lady"
Her rival, the footballer and political novice George Weah, alleged fraud. International observers said the vote had been broadly free and fair.
Known in Liberia as the "Iron Lady", Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf drew much of her support from women voters, and from Liberia's small educated elite. She faces the twin challenges of trying to rebuild the country and of fostering reconciliation. One of her priorities is to reintegrate into society former child soldiers. She has declared a "zero tolerance" of corruption.
The president served as finance minister under President William Tolbert in the late 1970s and fled the country after the Tolbert government was overthrown. She has worked for the UN and the World Bank.
Some of the opposition to Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf stems from her one-time association with former Liberian leader Charles Taylor. She briefly supported the then warlord in his quest to overthrow military leader Samuel Doe.
Born in 1938, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is a widowed mother-of-four.
Vice president: Joseph Nyuma Boakai
Foreign minister: George Wallace
Finance minister: Antoinette Sayeh