Ethiopia’s PM Abiy Ahmed appointed Meaza Ashenafi as Ethiopia’s first woman supreme president. The appointment came right after the PM speech in Germany were he told several Ethiopians’ that his reform in empowering women will also reach to the justice system.
Meaza Ashenafi who is the founder of Ethiopia Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) in 1995 started her career as a judge of the High Court of Ethiopia from 1989-1992. Besides her active involvement in women empowerments and working on women rights Meaza was also the founder of Ethiopia’s first women bank called Enat Bank. Meaza Ashenafi served as chair of the board of directors from 2011-2016. Meaza Ashenafi is also a recipient of the Hunger Project Award for her works related to women grassroots movement in Ethiopia.
In the past one month Ethiopia’s new prime minister Abiy Ahmed has proven to the world that he was serious about his gender reforms. His first action was the appointment of 10 women to his ministerial cabinet followed by the appointment of Ethiopia’s first women president and supreme court president. His action triggered a wave of support from the international community and even inspired Rwanda president to reshuffle his cabinet to become 50% women.
