SEPTEMBER 2006
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
to
Receive 2006 Africa Prize
Photo: Cachelleink.com
Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf, president of the Republic of Liberia and the first woman
to be elected president of an African nation, has been named the 2006
laureate of The Hunger Project’s Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable
End of Hunger. The prize includes a cash award to further her work
for the well-being of the people of Africa.
In announcing the 2006 laureate, Joan Holmes, president of The Hunger Project, praised the commitment of President Sirleaf to the empowerment of women, and to rebuilding her nation following 14 years of devastating civil war. Citing the enormous destruction of that war, Joan Holmes said, “Can you imagine the courage it would take, the vision it would take, and the belief in the goodness and resilience of people it would take to lead a country with this amount of devastation? We have always said that we award the Africa Prize to leaders who exhibit courage, vision and the commitment to the well-being of Africa’s people. This statement has never been more true than in the case of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.”
“I am indeed extremely honored to have been nominated and to join the ranks of the sterling group of persons who have received this award,” wrote President Sirleaf. “I will accept this award in person at the event scheduled for Saturday, October 21, in New York, and I will do so on behalf of the thousands of market women of Liberia who made great sacrifices during both war and peace to ensure that our nation is fed. This cash award will be needed to support the program of the NGO which I sponsor, Measuagoon, whose prime activities are to improve the working conditions of our market women.”
Liberia: 14 Years of Civil War
Liberia had a unique beginning. This West African country of 3.3 million people was first formed in 1824 by both freeborn and formerly enslaved African Americans. It declared its independence in 1847. Its history of relative stability broke down when civil war erupted from 1989 through 1994, and again from 1999 through 2003.
The wars devastated the country, claiming the lives of at least 150,000 people, mostly civilians.
Thousands of children were victims of
killing, rape, sexual assault, abduction, torture and forced labor. Children as
young as nine years old were forced to become child soldiers.
Young Liberian rebel soldiers wait at their checkpoint west of
Monrovia in August 2003.
Photo: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters
The war displaced thousands of people. There was a complete breakdown of law and order, and corruption was widespread. The country’s infrastructure was completely devastated. Rape was rampant and went unpunished — 40 percent of women and girls were raped during the civil war. Life expectancy dropped to less than 40 years.
President Sirleaf: Commitment and Action
Long involved in working for peace and justice in Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was jailed twice and narrowly escaped with her life before going into exile.
Today, President Sirleaf brings a wealth of experience to the challenge of governing Liberia. She is the former head of the United Nations Development Programme’s Regional Bureau for Africa, and has held senior positions with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the African Development Bank, Citibank and Equator Bank.
In her inaugural address, she stated: “My administration shall endeavor to give Liberian women prominence in all affairs of our country. My administration shall empower Liberian women in all areas of our national life. . . . We will enforce without fear or favor the law against rape recently passed by the National Transitional Legislature. We shall encourage families to educate all children, particularly the girl child.”
President Sirleaf’s National Girls’ Education Policy will provide free and compulsory primary schools for every Liberian child, recruit and train more female teachers, increase scholarships for girls, and raise girls’ self-esteem so that they can say no to sexual abuse.
Throughout her election campaign,
President Sirleaf stated that her victory would encourage women across Africa to
seek high political office. Within her own administration, she has appointed
women to high-ranking positions and to the top bracket of ministers,
including the first female head of police and the first woman justice
minister/attorney general.
Photos: UN Photo/Mark Garten
Philanthropy in Action
Come Join Us at the Africa Prize
By Mimi Evans, Director of Philanthropy
me@thp.org
As excitement builds toward this year’s Africa Prize in October, in the spirit of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s leadership, let’s honor the women who have changed history by breaking out of what they were told to expect for themselves.
In Western culture, until recently, women were not considered capable of owning property. This and more is still true in many cultures. In parts of Africa, for example, women are not allowed to touch money. This is the culture that President Sirleaf and other African women forcefully and gracefully transform.
This year’s Africa Prize will bring together Hunger Project women leaders from Africa, Asia and Latin America — women who changed history by asking “Why not?” and then defied the prevailing culture of dependency. Can you imagine being around such an enormously courageous group? Their spirit is contagious.
Attending the Africa Prize is open to all — please do come and bring your friends. It will be a powerful weekend you will remember forever. If you haven’t made your reservation yet, please call us (212.251.9100) or log on to our Web site (www.africaprize.org) today — don’t wait another minute!
Your investment in The Hunger Project makes you a leader — someone who believes in something better.
“I have an almost complete disregard of precedent and a faith in the possibility of something better. It irritates me to be told how things always have been done. . . . I defy the tyranny of precedent. I cannot afford the luxury of a closed mind. I go for anything new that might improve the past.”
— Clara Barton
(1821–1912)