{{short description|Ethiopian lawyer and judge (born 1964)}} {{Patronymic name|Meaza|Ashenafi|her}} {{COI|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Meaza Ashenafi | native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|am|መዓዛ አሸናፊ}}}} | image = Meaza Ashenafi in 2018.jpg | office = President of the Federal Supreme Court | prime_minister = Abiy Ahmed | president = Sahle-Work Zewde | term_start = 1 November 2018 | term_end = 17 January 2023 | deputy = Solomon Areda | predecessor = Dagne Melaku | successor = Tewodros Mihret | office1 = Judge of Federal High Court of Ethiopia | term_start1 = 1989 | term_end1 = 1992 | office2 = Legal Adviser Committee on 1995 Ethiopian Constitution | office3 = Founding Executive Director Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association | term_start3 = 1996 | term_end3 = 2005 | office4 = Founder and Chairperson of Enat Bank | term_start4 = 2013 | term_end4 = 2017 | office5 = Adviser on Gender and Women's Rights United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) | term_start5 = 2012 | term_end5 = 2018 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1964|07|25|df=y}} | birth_place = Asosa, then in Gojjam Province, Ethiopian Empire<br/>{{small|(now in Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Ethiopia)}} | education = University of Connecticut (MA) <br />Addis Ababa University (LLB) | spouse = Araya Asfaw | occupation = {{plainlist| *Women's rights activist *Lawyer}} | children = 2 | caption = Meaza in 2018 }} '''Meaza Ashenafi''' ({{langx|am|መዓዛ አሸናፊ}}; born 25 July 1964)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.africanwomeninlaw.com/african-women-in-law/Meaza-Ashenafi|title=Pioneer African Women in Law}}</ref> is an Ethiopian lawyer and women's rights activist. In November 2018, she was appointed by the Federal Parliamentary Assembly as President of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia until her resignation on 17 January 2023.<ref name="washingtonpost.com">Paul Schemm (November 1, 2018), [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/womens-rights-activist-named-to-head-ethiopias-supreme-court-in-new-reform/2018/11/01/9ed28fc4-ddbd-11e8-b3f0-62607289efee_story.html Women’s rights activist named to head Ethiopia’s Supreme Court] ''Washington Post''.</ref>
==Personal life and education == {{BLP unreferenced section|date=December 2020}} Meaza was born in Asosa, then in the Ethiopian Empire. She attended both elementary and high school in Asosa and join Addis Ababa University Law department. She received a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Addis Ababa University and Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in international relations and gender studies from the University of Connecticut. She is married to Dr. Araya Asfaw, Professor of Physics at Addis Ababa University, and they have two daughters together.
==Career== Meaza served as a Judge of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia between 1989 and 1992.<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/> In 1993 she was appointed by the Ethiopian Constitution Commission as a legal adviser.<ref name="Vieceli2005">{{cite book|last=Vieceli|first=Alberto|title=1000 Peacewomen Across the Globe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIQnAQAAMAAJ|year=2005|publisher=Scalo|isbn=978-3-03939-039-7|page=494}}</ref> In 1995,<ref name="Vieceli2005"/> Meaza founded the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) with Atsedeweine Tekle and Maria Yusuf, she would become its executive director.<ref name="irinnews.org"/> Through her legal contacts, she has been instrumental in campaigning for women's rights in Ethiopia; her Fighting For Women's Rights In Ethiopia group had approximately 45 graduate lawyers working for it in 2002.<ref name="BareguTrust2002">{{cite book|last=Baregu|first=Mwesiga Laurent|title=Peace-building in the Great Lakes Region|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZTMXAQAAIAAJ|year=2002|publisher=SAPES Books|isbn=978-1-77905-120-2|page=30}}</ref>
Meaza has held a position with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. She played a part in the development of the first women's bank in Ethiopia, Enat Bank, which was established in 2011; as of 2016, she was chairing its board of directors.<ref name=Makers>{{cite web |url=http://www.makers.com/blog/human-rights-lawyer-meaza-ashenafi-interview |title=Exclusive Q&A With Human Rights Lawyer Meaza Ashenafi |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2016 |website= |publisher=Makers |access-date=February 4, 2016 |quote=}}</ref> On 1 November 2018, Meaza appointed unanimously by HoPR as the President of the Supreme Court, being the first woman in the cabinet of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=First woman chief justice sworn in for Ethiopia {{!}} African Legal Information Institute |url=https://africanlii.org/article/20181101/first-woman-chief-justice-sworn-ethiopia |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=africanlii.org}}</ref> After serving four years, she resigned that position with vice president Solomon Areda on 17 January 2023. The Ethiopian parliament appointed Tewdros Mihret as the president and Abeba Embiale as deputy president of the Supreme Court on behalf of Meaza and Solomon respectively.<ref>{{cite web |last=AfricaNews |date=2023-01-17|title=Head of Ethiopia's Supreme Court resigns |url=https://www.africanews.com/2023/01/17/head-of-ethiopias-supreme-court-resigns/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Africanews |language=en}}</ref>
==Political positions== In a 2009 speech Meaza was outspoken on the stereotypes that women face in Ethiopian society, making mention of Amharic proverbs for the way women are perceived, portraying them mostly as delicate and weak.{{sfn|Woldeyes|2014|p=48}} The communications tradition over time has used these proverbs to advance men and degrade women.{{sfn|Woldeyes|2014|p=48}} Some of the ideas given by these proverbs are that a woman's place is only in domestic duties and that women in general lack common sense and are irresponsible.{{sfn|Woldeyes|2014|pp=48–49}}
==Recognition== In 2003, Meaza became a Hunger Project Award laureate,<ref name="irinnews.org">{{cite news|title=ETHIOPIA: Interview with Meaza Ashenafi, head of women lawyers association|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|url=http://www.irinnews.org/report/47120/ethiopia-interview-with-meaza-ashenafi-head-of-women-lawyers-association|access-date=3 February 2016|publisher=IRIN|date=7 November 2003}}</ref> winning the Grassroots Ethiopian Women of Substance Africa Prize,<ref>{{cite book|title=Tadias: Ethiopian-American Lifestyle and Business Magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9f0qAQAAIAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Tadias, Incorporated|page=5}}</ref> Two years later, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.<ref name="ethioscoop.com">{{cite news|title=Meaza Ashenafi Mengistu|first=Nassir|last=Mohammed|url=http://www.ethioscoop.com/biography/3511-meaza-ashenafi-mengistu.html|access-date=3 February 2016|work=Ethioscoop Review Magazine|date=15 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091154/http://www.ethioscoop.com/biography/3511-meaza-ashenafi-mengistu.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Her most famous case was turned into the 2014 Ethiopian film ''Difret'', which was promoted by Angelina Jolie as executive producer and went on to win the World Cinematic Dramatic Audience Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/>
== See also == * Women in Ethiopia
==References== {{reflist}}
== Sources == *{{cite book|last=Woldeyes|first=Billene Seyoum |title=Transformative Spaces: Enabling Authentic Female Leadership Through Self Transformation – the Association of Women in Business|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQSdAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|year=2014|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-643-90502-4}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Meaza Ashenafi}} Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:Women lawyers Category:20th-century Ethiopian women politicians Category:21st-century Ethiopian women politicians Category:Ethiopian women's rights activists Category:Ethiopian women human rights activists Category:People from Amhara Region Category:Ethiopian judges Category:Women chief justices Category:Organization founders Category:Women founders