Biography
Zewde was appointed as the first female president of Ethiopia on October 25, 2018.
Born in the capital Addis Ababa in 1950, and attended university in France where she studied natural science. After graduating, she came back to Ethiopia and worked at the Ministry of Education in the Public Relations Department as a Public Relations officer. Afterward, she was appointed as the second women to serve as Ethiopia's ambassador to Senegal (1989-1993), Djibouti (1993-2002), and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional trade bloc in East Africa. Later she served as Ambassador to France, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2002-2006). Before her appointment as president, she was elected head of the United Nations Integrated peace-building office in the Central African Republic and in 2018 appointed Special Representative to the African Union and head of the United Nations Office to the African Union at the level of Under-Secretary-General. She is fluent in Amharic, English, and French. |