ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf naceu en Monrovia, a capital de Liberia, o 29 de outubro de 1938. A República de Liberia foi fundada no século XIX por escravos liberados dos EE.UU, e a súa sociedade estivo marcada durante moito tempo pola tensión entre dous grupos sociais moi desiguais: os grupos indíxenas por unha banda, e por outra a elite américo-liberiana, que eran descendentes dos colonos americanos. O pai de Ellen era Gola, e a ascendencia da súa nai era Kru e alemá; ambos naceron en zonas rurais e pobres, pero foron criados en Monrovia por familias da elite américo-liberiana, que lles proporcionaron educación. Así, a súa nai fíxose mestra, e o seu pai avogado, e involucrouse máis tarde na política, chegando a ser o primeiro liberiano dun grupo étnico indíxena que foi elixido á Cámara de Representantes do país.

Cando Ellen estudaba secundaria, un ataque cerebral deixou ao seu pai paralizado e completamente dependente da familia. Ellen, vendo que se disipaban as súas posibilidades de ir á universidade, casou aos 17 anos, e pronto tivo catro fillos aos que tiña que criar, mentres se ocupaba das tarefas domésticas e traballaba levando a contabilidade nun taller mecánico para chegar a fin de mes. Ao mesmo tempo, vía como moitos dos seus amigos ían á universidade e se convertían en profesionais. O seu marido volveuse maltratador e alcohólico; non obstante, cando a el lle ofreceron a oportunidade de ir a EE.UU. a estudar unha licenciatura en Agricultura, Ellen aproveitou a ocasión pra marchar con el e estudar Contabilidade no Madison Business College en 1961.

Cando regresaron a Liberia en 1965 el empezou a traballar no Departamento de Agricultura e Ellen no Departamento do Tesouro. Ela traballaba e estudaba duro polas noites e avanzaba na súa carreira. O seu marido, irritado pola autonomía dela, volveuse cada vez máis violento e Ellen divorciouse, tras o cal volveu a EE.UU. e cursou un grado en Economía pola Universidade de Colorado en 1970. A continuación, obtivo un máster en Administración Pública na Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government en 1971.

En 1972, Ellen volveu a Liberia e comezou a traballar como Ministra Asistente de Economía na administración do Presidente de Liberia William Tolbert. Nese punto, estaba ascendendo moi rapidamente na súa carreira e o que debía facer, se quería ter éxito, era seguirlle a corrente ao goberno, pero non puido. Frustrada pola falta de cambios na política da administración, e moi preocupada polo destino do país, deu un impactante discurso no que afirmou o que ninguén se atrevía a dicir, pois declarou que as corporacións estaban danando a economía do país, acaparando ou enviando os beneficios ao estranxeiro, e advertiu que o afondamento nas diferencias económicas traería tensións sociais insoportables. Isto atraeu a atención internacional e creou desavinzas entre ela e os seus superiores.

A mediados dos 70, Ellen marchou a Washington a traballar pra o World Bank, pero botaba de menos o seu país, e volveu a Liberia en 1977 a traballar como Viceministra de Economía. En 1979, a escaseza de arroz provocou disturbios nas rúas aos que o goberno respondeu con represión, e isto enfureceu aínda máis á poboación. Tolbert despediu entón ao ministro de Economía e ascendeuna a ela, que se converteu na primeira muller en ocupar o cargo. Ela tiña grandes ambicións de reforma-la economía, pero pronto as tensións estouraron na rúa.

En 1980 Samuel Doe liderou un golpe de estado, asasinando ao presidente Tolbert e a 26 dos seus seguidores. Días máis tarde, 13 membros do seu gabinete foron executados publicamente. Ellen foi unha dos catro ministros que non mataron; traballou brevemente como presidenta do Liberian Bank for Development and Investment para tentar evitar un colapso na economía, pero despois de criticar publicamente a Doe veuse obrigada a abandona-lo país de novo pola súa seguridade. Regresou a EE.UU. a traballar no World Bank; pero quería volver a África, así que foise a Kenia a traballar como vicepresidenta de Citibank en África.

En 1985 Doe tentou lexitimar o seu réxime internacionalmente mediante a celebración dunhas eleccións. Ellen regresou a Liberia pra presentarse ás eleccións como candidata a Vicepresidenta, pero foi detida e condenada a dez anos de prisión e traballos forzados por opoñerse publicamente a Doe, aínda que pronto foi liberada pola presión internacional. Despois, só se lle permitiu presentarse como candidata ao Senado. As eleccións foron amplamente consideradas como fraudulentas, e aínda que ela gañou un posto no Senado, negouse a aceptalo. En novembro de 1985, arrestárona de novo e permaneceu en prisión, onde tentaron aterrorizala e ameazaron con violala. En xullo de 1986 foi liberada, de novo grazas á presión internacional e nacional. Máis tarde deixou o país en segredo e volveu a Washington, a traballar como vicepresidenta do HSBC Equator Bank.

Durante os anos seguintes, producíronse varios intentos de golpes de estado contra o réxime de Doe e varios asasinatos de líderes da oposición, tras o cal Liberia entrou nunha guerra civil que comezou en 1989 cando Charles Taylor, un antigo aliado de Doe, liderou un levantamento contra el. Inicialmente, Ellen apoiara a revolta de Taylor para derrocar a Doe, pero pronto deixou de facelo debido á violencia que exercía. Doe foi capturado e asasinado en 1990, e Taylor emerxeu coma o máis poderoso dos líderes rebeldes, pero a violencia entre faccións continuou durante moitos anos. Taylor converteuse nun dos señores da guerra máis destacados de África.

En 1992 Ellen entrou a formar parte do Programa de Desenvolvemento das Nacións Unidas, converténdose na primeira muller en dirixir este programa pra África. En 1997 renunciou a este cargo e a unha vida moi acomodada en Nova York para presentarse ás eleccións como candidata a Presidenta de Liberia. Nun clima marcado pola violencia, onde ela partía con unha enorme desvantaxe, foi derrotada por Charles Taylor. Aínda que a comunidade internacional aprobou o resultado, ela sospeitaba que as eleccións foran fraudulentas. Entón exiliouse en Côte d'Ivoire e creou unha asesoría financeira e unha ONG para o desenvolvemento da comunidade liberiana.

Taylor impuxo un réxime corrupto e represivo, aínda que moitas persoas continuaban a darlle o beneficio da dúbida. Ellen converteuse na súa crítica máis visible e comezou a crear unha oposición. Mentres, Taylor involucrouse na guerra civil de Serra Leoa e foi acusado de colaborar nas atrocidades cometidas contra civís, pois moitos miles foron asasinados, mutilados, torturados e secuestrados, e xeneralizouse a violación. Ademais, foi acusado de axudar ao recrutamento de nenos soldado, que foron moitos deles obrigados a matar aos seus pais.

Non obstante, Taylor tivo que dimitir e fuxir a Nixeria en 2003 debido aos ataques de grupos rebeldes armados, a presión internacional e a resistencia non violenta heroica da Acción En Masa pola Paz das Mulleres de Liberia, (un movemento pacífico iniciado polas mulleres, do cal Ellen era unha das lideresas) rematando así coa guerra civil que durara 14 anos e deixara centos de miles de mortos e desprazados. Taylor sería detido en 2006 e xulgado na Corte Penal Internacional da Haia e condenado en 2012 a 50 anos de cárcere por crimes de guerra e contra a humanidade.

En 2003 Ellen regresou a Liberia para presidir a Comisión de Reforma do Goberno do Goberno de Transición. En 2005 presentouse ás que serían as primeiras eleccións xerais verdadeiramente libres de Liberia como candidata a Presidenta, vencendo na segunda ronda a George Weah, un ex futbolista. O 25 de novembro de 2005 converteuse na Presidenta de Liberia e na primeira muller elixida Presidenta dun país africano.

Ellen pasou o seu mandato tratando de reparar o dano que causaran os ditadores tras décadas de violencia, espolio, corrupción e mal goberno, deixando o país cheo de pobreza, analfabetismo, fame e desemprego. Durante os primeiros anos, conseguiu o levantamento das sancións comerciais internacionais contra Liberia e o perdón completo da enorme débeda externa do país. Tamén estableceu o dereito á educación básica gratuíta e universal e a igualdade de dereitos pra as mulleres, e fixo enormes avances en infraestruturas, o que atraeu moitas inversións estranxeiras.

Entre múltiples premios e recoñecementos, recibiu o premio Nobel da Paz en 2011 por garantir a paz en Liberia, promover o desenvolvemento económico e social, e fortalecer a posición das mulleres.

En 2011 volveu a gañar as eleccións, e retirouse en 2017 tras este segundo período, no que foi a primeira transición de poder pacífica e democrática en Liberia en 73 anos.

Durante o seu segundo mandato, entre 2014 e 2015 deuse unha epidemia de Ébola en Liberia, que rematou en grande medida grazas ao forte liderado e coordinación de Ellen. O sistema de saúde do país estaba extremadamente debilitado despois da guerra civil. Ela consideraba a epidemia como unha ameaza ao tecido económico e social do país, así que fixo da resposta ao Ébola unha prioridade para ela.

A súa actuación é un exemplo de como se pode xestionar unha epidemia do xeito máis eficaz: en primeiro lugar, comunicándose frecuentemente e sinceramente co público, para que entendan como protexerse e se involucren; en segundo lugar, reunindo e coordinando á xente coa capacidade técnica e financeira necesaria, e buscando novos socios a nivel local, nacional e internacional; e en terceiro lugar, empregando a axuda de bos líderes das comunidades e dos equipos sanitarios.

Dende que deixou a presidencia, en 2018 Ellen fundou o Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development, unha institución adicada a avanzar e soster o desenvolvemento social e político das mulleres no continente Africano.

Tamén é copresidenta do Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, establecido en xullo de 2020 pola OMS para garantir que os países e as institucións globais, incluída especificamente a OMS, aborden eficazmente as ameazas para a saúde, proporcionando un camiño baseado en evidencias para o futuro, fundamentado en leccións do presente e do pasado.

“O tamaño dos teus soños sempre debe superar a túa capacidade actual para conseguilos. Se os teus soños non te asustan, non son o suficientemente grandes ".

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was born in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, on October 29, 1938. The Republic of Liberia was founded in the 19th century by freed slaves from the United States, and its society had long been marked by tensions between two very unequal social groups: indigenous groups on one hand, and the Americo-Liberian elite on the other, who were descendants of American settlers. Ellen's father was Gola, and her mother's ancestry was Kru and German; both were born in rural and poor areas, but were raised in Monrovia by families from the Americo-Liberian elite, who provided them with education. Thus, her mother became a teacher, and her father a lawyer, and he later became involved in politics, becoming the first Liberian from an indigenous ethnic group to be elected to the country's House of Representatives.

When Ellen was in high school, a stroke left her father paralysed and completely depending on the family. Ellen, seeing that her chances of going to college were dissipating, got married at 17, and soon had four children to raise, while taking care of the household chores and working as a bookkeeper for an auto-repair shop to make ends meet. At the same time, she saw how many of her friends went to college and became professionals. Her husband became abusive and an alcoholic; however, when he was offered the opportunity to go to the U.S. to study a degree in Agriculture, Ellen took the opportunity to go with him and study Accounting at Madison Business College in 1961.

When they returned to Liberia in 1965 he began working in the Department of Agriculture and Ellen in the Department of the Treasury. She worked and studied hard at night and progressed in her career. Her husband, irritated by her autonomy, became increasingly violent and Ellen divorced, after which she returned to the United States and took a degree in Economics from the University of Colorado in 1970. She then earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1971.

In 1972, Ellen returned to Liberia and began working as Assistant Minister of Finance in the administration of Liberian President William Tolbert. At that point, she was rising very quickly in her career and what she had to do, if she wanted to succeed, was to go along with the government, but she couldn’t. Frustrated by the lack of changes in the government’s policy, and very concerned about the fate of the country, she gave a shocking speech in which she stated what no one dared to say, as she stated that corporations were damaging the country’s economy, hoarding or sending the profits abroad, and warned that deepening economic differences would bring unbearable social tensions. This attracted international attention and created disagreements between her and her superiors.

In the mid-1970s, Ellen left for Washington to work for the World Bank, but she missed her country, and returned to Liberia in 1977 to work as Vice Minister of Finance. In 1979, the shortage of rice brought about riots in the streets to which the government responded with repression, and this infuriated the population still more. Tolbert then fired the Minister of Finance and promoted her, who became the first woman to hold the post. She had big ambitions to reform the economy, but soon tensions erupted on the street.

In 1980 Samuel Doe led a coup d’état, assassinating President Tolbert and 26 of his followers. Days later, 13 members of his cabinet were publicly executed. Ellen was one of the four ministers who were not killed; she worked briefly as president of the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment to try to prevent a collapse in the economy, but after publicly criticizing Doe she was forced to leave the country again for her own safety. She returned to the US to work at the World Bank; but she wanted to go back to Africa, so she went to Kenya to work as Citibank’s vice president in Africa.

In 1985 Doe tried to legitimize his regime internationally by holding an election. Ellen returned to Liberia to run for vice president, but she was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison and penal labour for publicly opposing Doe, although she was soon released due to international pressure. Afterwards, she was only allowed to run as a candidate for the Senate. The election was widely regarded as fraudulent, and although she won a seat in the Senate, she refused to accept it. In November 1985, she was arrested again and remained in prison, where they tried to terrorize her and threatened to rape her. In July 1986 she was released, again thanks to international and national pressure. She later left the country in secret and returned to Washington, to work as vice president of HSBC Equator Bank.

During the following years, there were several coup attempts against the Doe regime and several assassinations of opposition leaders, after which Liberia entered a civil war that began in 1989 when Charles Taylor, a former ally of Doe, led an uprising against him. Initially, Ellen had supported Taylor's revolt to overthrow Doe, but she soon stopped doing so due to the violence he exercised. Doe was captured and assassinated in 1990, and Taylor emerged as the most powerful of the rebel leaders, but inter-factional violence continued for many years. Taylor became one of the most prominent warlords in Africa.

In 1992, Ellen joined the United Nations Development Programme, becoming the first woman to lead this program for Africa. In 1997 she resigned from this position and a very affluent life in New York to run for President of Liberia. In a climate marked by violence, where she started out at a huge disadvantage, she was defeated by Charles Taylor. Although the international community approved the result, she suspected the election had been fraudulent. She then went into exile in Côte d’Ivoire and set up a financial consultancy and an NGO for the development of the Liberian community.

Taylor imposed a corrupt and repressive regime, although many people continued to give him the benefit of the doubt. Ellen became his most visible critic and began to create an opposition. Meanwhile, Taylor became involved in the Sierra Leone civil war and was accused of collaborating in the atrocities committed against civilians, as many thousands were killed, mutilated, tortured and abducted, and rape became widespread. In addition, he was accused of aiding in the recruitment of child soldiers, who were many of them forced to kill their parents.

However, Taylor had to resign and flee to Nigeria in 2003 due to attacks by armed rebel groups, international pressure and the heroic non violent resistance of the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, (a peaceful movement initiated by women, of which Ellen was one of the leaders) thus ending the 14-year civil war that left hundreds of thousands dead and displaced. Taylor would be arrested in 2006 and tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague and sentenced in 2012 to 50 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In 2003 Ellen returned to Liberia to chair the Governance Reform Commission of the National Transitional Government. In 2005 she ran for President in what would be the first truly free general election in Liberia, defeating George Weah, a former footballer, in the second round. On November 25, 2005, she became the President of Liberia and the first woman elected President of an African country.

Ellen spent her term trying to repair the damage the dictators had caused after decades of violence, looting, corruption and misgovernment, leaving the country full of poverty, illiteracy, hunger and unemployment. During the early years, she managed to lift international trade sanctions against Liberia and got full relief of the country’s huge foreign debt. She also established the right to free and universal basic education and equal rights for women, and she made huge strides in infrastructure, which attracted many foreign investments.

Among multiple awards and recognitions, she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for ensuring peace in Liberia, promoting economic and social development, and strengthening the position of women.

In 2011 she won the election again, and retired in 2017 after this second term, in what was the first peaceful and democratic transition of power in Liberia in 73 years.

During her second term, between 2014 and 2015 there was an Ebola epidemic in Liberia, which ended largely thanks to Ellen’s strong leadership and coordination. The country’s health system was extremely weakened after the civil war. She viewed the epidemic as a threat to the country’s economic and social fabric, so she made the Ebola response a priority for her.

Her action is an example of how an epidemic can be managed in the most effective way: first, by communicating frequently and sincerely with the public, so that they understand how to protect themselves and get involved; second, by bringing together and coordinating people with the necessary technical and financial capacity, and seeking new partners at the local, national, and international levels; and third, by using the help of good community leaders and health teams.

Since she left the presidency, in 2018 Ellen founded the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development, an institution dedicated to advancing and sustaining the social and political development of women on the African continent.

She is also co-chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, established in July 2020 by the WHO to ensure that countries and global institutions, including specifically the WHO, effectively address health threats, providing an evidence-based pathway for the future, grounded in lessons of the present and the past.

“The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough. "