{{Short description|President of Ethiopia from 2018 to 2024}} {{Hatnote|In this Ethiopian name, the name Zewde is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by her given name, Sahle-Work.}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Her Excellency | native_name = {{nobold|ሣህለ ወርቅ ዘውዴ}} | image = 사흘레워크 쥬드 (Sahle-Work Zewde) 20221009.jpg | caption = Sahle-Work in 2022 | order = | office = President of Ethiopia | prime_minister = Abiy Ahmed | term_start = 25 October 2018 | term_end = 7 October 2024 | predecessor = Mulatu Teshome | successor = Taye Atske Selassie | office1 = Under Secretary-General, Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union | appointer1 = António Guterres | term_start1 = 27 June 2018 | term_end1 = 25 October 2018 | predecessor1 = Haile Menkerios | successor1 = Hanna Tetteh | office2 = Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi | appointer2 = Ban Ki-moon<br />António Guterres | term_start2 = 2011 | term_end2 = 2018 | predecessor2 = Achim Steiner | successor2 = Hanna Tetteh | office3 = Ambassador to Senegal with accreditation to Mali, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Guinea | president3 = Mengistu Haile-Mariam<br>Tesfaye Gebre Kidan<br>Meles Zenawi | term_start3 = 1989 | term_end3 = 1993 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1950|2|21}} | birth_place = {{nowrap|Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Empire}} | death_date = | death_place = | party = Independent | education = University of Montpellier | native_name_lang = am }}
'''Sahle-Work Zewde''' ({{Langx|am|ሣህለ ወርቅ ዘውዴ}}; born 21 February 1950) is an Ethiopian diplomat who served as president of Ethiopia from 2018 to 2024, the first woman to hold the office. She was elected as president unanimously by members of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly on 25 October 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-45976620|title=Ethiopia gets first female president|date=25 October 2018|publisher=BBC|access-date=25 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025095111/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-45976620|archive-date=25 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
American business magazine ''Forbes'', on its annual edition of the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, listed Sahle-Work as the 93rd most powerful woman in the world, making her the highest-ranking African woman on the list.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sahle-Work Zewde |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/sahle-work-zewde/ |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Forbes Powerful Women 2020">{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/power-women/list/ |title=The World's 100 Most Powerful Women |website=Forbes |access-date=24 December 2020}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Born in Addis Ababa,<ref name="Gebreselassie">{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/sahle-work-zewde-ethiopia-female-president-181027134726828.html|title=Who is Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopia's first female president?|last=Gebreselassie|first=Elias|date=27 October 2018|website=Al Jazeera|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029035218/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/sahle-work-zewde-ethiopia-female-president-181027134726828.html|archive-date=29 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Sahle-Work is of Amhara origin. She is the first born out of four children.<ref name="Boko">{{cite web |last=Boko |first=Hermann |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20181026-sahle-work-zewde-elected-ethiopia-first-female-president |title=Sahle-Work Zewde, the diplomat who's become Ethiopia's first female president |website=France24.com |date=26 October 2018 |access-date=13 June 2022 |quote="She is an Amhara, the ethnic group that ruled during the communist regime and was marginalised for a long time. The elite from this community would like to get back to business. The Amharas also supported Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. She will play the role of an internal ambassador to reduce any divisions that may exist within this community,” says Prunier.}}</ref> She attended primary and secondary school at Lycée Guebre-Mariam in Addis Ababa, after which she studied natural science at the University of Montpellier, France.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.borkena.com/2018/10/24/sahle-work-zewde-poised-to-be-ethiopias-first-female-president/|title=Sahle-Work Zewde poised to be Ethiopia's first female president|website=borkena.com|date=24 October 2018|access-date=25 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www-telegraph-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/25/ethiopia-appointscareer-diplomat-sahle-work-zewde-africas-female/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQCCAE=#referrer=https://www.google.com&_tf=From%20%251$s|title=Ethiopia appoints career diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde as Africa's only female president|website=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=25 October 2018|archive-date=16 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616082059/https://www-telegraph-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/25/ethiopia-appointscareer-diplomat-sahle-work-zewde-africas-female/amp/?usqp=mq331AQCCAE=&_js_v=0.1#referrer=https://www.google.com&_tf=From%20%251$s|url-status=dead}}</ref> She is fluent in Amharic, French, and English.<ref name="auto" />
==Career==
===Diplomatic career=== Sahle-Work was only the second woman to be appointed an ambassador in Ethiopian history (ambassador Yodit Emiru was the first woman to hold an ambassadorship). She served as the ambassador of both the communist People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and post-civil war Transitional Government of Ethiopia.<ref name=mfae>{{cite news|title=Celebrating Ethiopian Women: Ambassador Sahle-work Zewde |url=https://mfaethiopiablog.wordpress.com/2018/03/22/celebrating-ethiopian-women-ambassador-sahle-work-zewde/ |work=Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ethiopia) |date=2018-03-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026222342/https://mfaethiopiablog.wordpress.com/2018/03/22/celebrating-ethiopian-women-ambassador-sahle-work-zewde/ |archive-date=2018-10-26 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=usembeth>{{cite news|first=Patricia|last=Haslach |title=Remarks by U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Patricia M. Haslach at the Opening of the Second Annual Career Day on Women in Diplomacy |url=https://et.usembassy.gov/sp-03182015/ |work=Embassy of the United States in Ethiopia |date=2015-03-18|access-date=2018-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906032448/https://et.usembassy.gov/sp-03182015/ |archive-date=2018-09-06 |url-status=live}}</ref>
A veteran in the Ethiopian foreign service, Sahle-Work served as Ambassador to Senegal,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/ethiopia-appoints-first-female-president-in-its-modern-history-in-latest-reform/2018/10/25/3514d3a4-d82b-11e8-a10f-b51546b10756_story.html?noredirect=on|title=Ethiopia appoints first female president in its modern history in latest reform|last=Schemm|first=Paul|date=25 October 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026143129/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/ethiopia-appoints-first-female-president-in-its-modern-history-in-latest-reform/2018/10/25/3514d3a4-d82b-11e8-a10f-b51546b10756_story.html|archive-date=26 October 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> with accreditation to Mali, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Guinea, from 1989 to 1993.<ref name=mfae/> From 1993 to 2002, she was Ambassador to Djibouti and Permanent Representative to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://addisstandard.com/news-alert-ambassador-sahlework-zewde-to-become-ethiopias-president/|title=News Alert: Ambassador Sahlework Zewde to become Ethiopia's president|date=24 October 2018|work=Addis Standard|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026104517/https://addisstandard.com/news-alert-ambassador-sahlework-zewde-to-become-ethiopias-president/|archive-date=26 October 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>[https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/personnel-appointments/2018-06-27/ms-sahle-work-zewde-ethiopia-special-representative Ms. Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia – Special Representative to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025150326/https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/personnel-appointments/2018-06-27/ms-sahle-work-zewde-ethiopia-special-representative |date=25 October 2018 }} United Nations, press release of 27 June 2018.</ref> This was a prominent position, as Djibouti was the landlocked country's primary route to sea trade. Her involvement here gave her experience in trade issues. She held this position until 2002.<ref name="Boko" /> She later served as Ambassador to France,<ref name=":0" /> Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and was accredited to Tunisia and Morocco from 2002 to 2006.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/personnel-appointments/2018-06-27/ms-sahle-work-zewde-ethiopia-special-representative|title=Ms. Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia – Special Representative to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU)|date=27 June 2018|publisher=United Nations|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025150326/https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/personnel-appointments/2018-06-27/ms-sahle-work-zewde-ethiopia-special-representative|archive-date=25 October 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
Sahle-Work subsequently held other high level positions including Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and Director-General for African Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.<ref name=":1" />
===Career with the United Nations=== Until 2011, Sahle-Work served as Special Representative of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peace-building Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://afrique.latribune.fr/politique/2018-10-25/sahle-work-zewde-devient-la-premiere-femme-chef-d-etat-de-l-ehtiopie-795309.html|title=Sahle-Work Zewde devient la première femme chef d'Etat de l'Ethiopie|last=Tchounand|first=Ristel|date=25 October 2018|work=La Tribune|access-date=26 October 2018|language=fr-FR}}</ref> [[File:Sahle-Work Zewde, UNON, Nairobi, Kenya.jpg|thumb|Sahle-Work during interview in Nairobi, 2016]] In 2011, Ban appointed Sahle-Work as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://qz.com/africa/1437436/ethiopia-elects-female-president-sahle-work-zewde/|title=Ethiopia elects female president Sahle-Work Zewde|last=Dahir|first=Abdi Latif|date=25 October 2018|website=Quartz|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025174538/https://qz.com/africa/1437436/ethiopia-elects-female-president-sahle-work-zewde/|archive-date=25 October 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Under Sahle-Work, the Nairobi office became a more important UN hub for East and Central Africa, according to the 2012 ''Africa Yearbook''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TSUzAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA17|title=Africa Yearbook Volume 8: Politics, Economy and Society South of the Sahara in 2011|last1=Mehler|first1=Andreas|last2=Melber|first2=Henning|last3=van Walvaren|first3=Klaas|year=2012|publisher=Brill Publishers|isbn=9789004241787|page=17}}</ref>
In June 2018, Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Sahle-Work as his Special Representative to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU) at the level of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.<ref name=":1" /> She was the first woman to hold the post.<ref name=":2" /> By this time, it was expected that Sahle-Work was preparing to retire.<ref name="Boko" />
===President of Ethiopia=== [[File:The Presidential Ceremony Ethiopia.jpg|thumb|Sahle Work giving Taye Atske Selassie, the newly elected president, the constitution]] President Mulatu Teshome resigned suddenly on 24 October 2018, and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed chose Sahle-Work as Teshome's successor. This appointment was one of several by Abiy to seek gender equality on the government, as he believed that this was a step toward eliminating discrimination in society. Sahle-Work's appointment as president of Ethiopia was unanimously approved by the Federal Parliamentary Assembly on 25 October. She was the first woman to serve in the role<ref name="Boko" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-politics/ethiopias-parliament-approves-sahle-work-zewde-as-president-idUSKCN1MZ0WO|title=Ethiopia's parliament approves Sahle-Work Zewde as president|access-date=25 October 2018|work=Reuters|date=25 October 2018}}</ref> and the fourth president since the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition was elected in the newly established Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in 1995.<ref>George Obulutsa (25 October 2018), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-politics/ethiopias-parliament-approves-sahle-work-zewde-as-first-female-president-idUSKCN1MZ0WO Ethiopia's parliament approves Sahle-Work Zewde as first female president] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025213341/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-politics/ethiopias-parliament-approves-sahle-work-zewde-as-first-female-president-idUSKCN1MZ0WO |date=25 October 2018 }}, Reuters.</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=2019-03-27|title=Sahle-Work Zewde Becomes First Ethiopian Woman President|url=https://www.albawaba.com/news/sahle-work-zewde-becomes-first-ethiopian-woman-president-1204696|date=25 October 2018|website=Al Bawaba}}</ref> She is expected to serve two six-year terms.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/sahle-work-zewde-named-ethiopia-woman-president-181025084046138.html|title=Sahle-Work Zewde named Ethiopia's first woman president|date=25 October 2018|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025212748/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/sahle-work-zewde-named-ethiopia-woman-president-181025084046138.html|archive-date=25 October 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
Prior to her presidency, Sahle-Work had no experience in domestic politics.<ref name="Boko" /> Although her role is largely ceremonial (with most executive power lying with the prime minister), Sahle-Work's election made her Ethiopia's first female head of state since Empress Zewditu.<ref name="auto" /> At the time she was appointed, Sahle-Work was the only female head of state in Africa,<ref name="Gebreselassie" /> and by 2021, she was one of two alongside Samia Suluhu of Tanzania.<ref name="auto" /> [[File:Secretary Pompeo Meets with Ethiopian President Sahle-Work (49557301152).jpg|thumb|Sahle-Work meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in February 2020]] On 25 March 2020, Sahle-Work announced on Twitter that she has pardoned more than 4,000 prisoners in a move to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ethiopia pardons more than 4,000 prisoners to help prevent coronavirus spread|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/26/africa/ethiopia-pardons-4000-prisoners-over-coronavirus/index.html|last=Adebayo|first=Bukola|date=26 March 2020|website=CNN|access-date=6 May 2020}}</ref> She also pardoned more than 1,500 prisoners on 2 April 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ethiopia pardons additional 1, 559 inmates|url=https://www.fanabc.com/english/ethiopia-pardons-additional-1-559-inmates/|date=2 April 2020|website=Fana Broadcasting|language=en-US|access-date=6 May 2020}}</ref> [[File:Alexander Schallenberg visit to Ethiopia, January 2021 09.jpg|thumb|Sahle-Work meeting with Foreign Minister of Austria Alexander Schallenberg in January 2021]] On 19 December 2020, Sahle-Work commuted the death sentences of former Derg officials Berhanu Bayeh and Adis Tedla to life imprisonment. They had been granted safe haven in the Italian embassy soon after the Derg regime's collapse in 1991 and had been living there ever since. Italy refused to give them up because of its long-standing opposition to capital punishment. Berhanu and Adis had been sentenced in absentia to death in 2008, but were subsequently granted parole on 24 December.<ref name=CNN>{{cite web |title=Ethiopian war criminals able to leave Italian embassy after nearly 30 years |date=30 December 2020 |website=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626180207/https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/30/africa/ethiopia-italian-embassy-intl/index.html |archive-date=26 June 2023 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/30/africa/ethiopia-italian-embassy-intl/index.html}}</ref>
[[File:National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo Meets with Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde 20221009 (03).jpg|thumb|Sahle-Work meeting with Speaker of the National Assembly of South Korea Kim Jin-pyo in October 2022]] Sahle-Work demanded an end to the Tigray War between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) through "negotiations without any conditions", though she also supported countering TPLF attacks "with the necessary measures".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-11 |title=Ethiopian president Sahle-work Zewde calls for negotiations to end Tigray war |url=https://www.africanews.com/2022/10/11/ethiopian-president-sahle-work-zewde-calls-for-negotiations-to-end-the-civil-war/ |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=Africanews |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-11 |title=Ethiopian President Zewde Calls For Negotiations to End Civil War. The 2024 Ethiopian presidential election took place on 7 October 2024 to elect the country's next president. Diplomat and outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs, Taye Atske Selassie, was elected unopposed to serve a six-year term. The election occurred amid heightened political tensions between outgoing President Sahle-Work Zewde and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, largely stemming from Abiy's ongoing military campaigns in Tigray and the Amhara region.
|url=https://newscentral.africa/ethiopian-president-zewde-calls-for-negotiations-to-end-civil-war/ |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=News Central TV |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{sister project links||d=Q7399685|c=Category:Sahle-Work Zewde|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|s=no|wikt=no|species=no}} *[https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/sga1280.doc.htm United Nations Press Release]
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Mulatu Teshome}} {{s-ttl|title=President of Ethiopia|years=2018–2024}} {{s-aft|after=Taye Atske Selassie}} {{s-end}}
{{President of Ethiopia}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Living people Category:1950 births Category:People from Addis Ababa Category:Ambassadors of Ethiopia to Senegal Category:Ambassadors of Ethiopia to Djibouti Category:Ambassadors of Ethiopia to France Category:Permanent delegates of Ethiopia to UNESCO Category:Women ambassadors of Ethiopia Category:Presidents of Ethiopia Category:Women presidents in Africa Category:Ethiopian officials of the United Nations Category:University of Montpellier alumni Category:21st-century Ethiopian politicians Category:21st-century Ethiopian women politicians Category:20th-century Ethiopian politicians Category:20th-century Ethiopian women politicians Category:First women presidents Category:Politicians of the Tigray war