Her Excellency, President Sahlework Zewdie, currently serves as the patron of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society. She is a highly accomplished Ethiopian diplomat with a rich background in international affairs. President Sahlework earned her degree in natural sciences from the University of Montpellier in France.
Her extensive career includes notable positions within the United Nations and Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry. Prior to becoming the first female president of Ethiopia, she held the role of United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU), with the rank of Under-Secretary-General, making her the first African woman to hold this position. She also served as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON).
President Sahlework’s international roles further encompassed being the Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuild Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA). Additionally, she served as the Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa. She has also held the position of Director-General for African Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Her diplomatic assignments included serving as the Ethiopian Ambassador to France and as the Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). During her tenure in this role, she was also accredited to Tunisia and Morocco from 2002 to 2006.
President Sahlework Zewdie played a crucial role in the successful efforts to repatriate the Axum obelisk from Rome, which had been taken by Italian fascists in the 1930s. Her contributions to international diplomacy have been substantial, and her career includes various ambassadorial positions. She served as Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Djibouti and Permanent Representative to the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) from 1993 to 2002. Additionally, she held the role of Ethiopia’s ambassador to Senegal, with accreditation to Mali, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, and Guinea from 1989 to 1993.
