Ethiopia Just Elected Her First Female President and a Gender-Balanced Cabinet

Ethiopian lawmakers unanimously elected the country’s first female president on Thursday, days after approving one of the world’s few “gender-balanced” Cabinets as the country’s dramatic reforms continue.

As seasoned diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde assumed the largely ceremonial post, many celebrated Africa’s only current female head of state. The continent’s first female president, Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, left office this year.

“Congratulations, Madam President! Women do make a difference. We are proud of you!” the female president of the United Nations General Assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa Garces, said in a Twitter post.

“In a patriarchal society such as ours, the appointment of a female head of state not only sets the standard for the future but also normalizes women as decision-makers in public life,” the chief of staff for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Twitter.

The East African country long has shown some of the lowest indicators of gender equality in sub-Saharan Africa, UN Women has said. “Women and girls in Ethiopia are strongly disadvantaged compared to boys and men in several areas, including literacy, health, livelihoods and basic human rights.” Female genital mutilation continues in some areas despite the government declaring it illegal.

But the new prime minister has clearly decided to include women’s leadership in the sweeping political and economic reforms he has announced in Africa’s second most populous country since taking office in April.

Ethiopian lawmakers last week approved a Cabinet with women making up a record 50 percent of ministers, including the country’s first female defense minister. A woman also leads the new Ministry of Peace, will oversees the powerful National Intelligence and Security Service and the Federal Police Commission.

The Horn of Africa power joined a handful of countries, mostly European, where women make up 50 percent or more of ministerial positions, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women.

Likely inspired, Rwanda two days later announced its own Cabinet with 50 percent women. The country has received international recognition for female representation in government.

“The African continent is leading the way in showcasing that women’s engagement and leadership are crucial to lasting peace,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Twitter.

Sahle-Work called Ethiopia’s recent transfer of power to Abiy after months of anti-government protests demanding wider freedoms “exemplary.” The ruling coalition that has led the country since 1991 and with allied parties holds every seat in Parliament agreed earlier this month to have Abiy lead the party until its next congress, a vote of confidence in the reforms.

The new president said she will focus on bringing together all sides to achieve peace in a country where multiple ethnic-based conflicts have simmered in recent months as political dialogue opens up.

Sahle-Work has worked in various United Nations organs and was the first director-general of the U.N. office in Nairobi. Until recently she was the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative to the African Union.

Garbage Dump Landslide in Ethiopia Killed 35 People While Dozens Are Missing

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — A landslide swept through a massive garbage dump on the outskirts of Ethiopia's capital, killing at least 35 people and leaving several dozen missing, residents said, as officials vowed to relocate those who called the landfill home.

Addis Ababa city spokeswoman Dagmawit Moges said most of the dead were women and children, and more bodies were expected to be found in the coming hours.

It was not immediately clear what caused Saturday night's landslide at the Koshe Garbage Landfill, which buried several makeshift homes and concrete buildings. The landfill has been a dumping ground for the capital's garbage for more than 50 years.

About 150 people were there when the landslide occurred, resident Assefa Teklemahimanot told The Associated Press. Addis Ababa Mayor Diriba Kuma said 37 people had been rescued and were receiving medical treatment. Dagmawit said two had serious injuries.

Many people at the landfill had been scavenging items to make a living, but others live there because renting homes, largely built of mud and sticks, is relatively inexpensive.

An AP reporter saw four bodies taken away by ambulances after being pulled from the debris. Elderly women cried, and others stood anxiously waiting for news of loved ones. Six excavators dug through the ruins.

© The Associated Press Police officers secure the perimeter at the scene of a garbage landslide, as excavators aid rescue efforts, on the outskirts of the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Sunday, March 12, 2017. Officials and residents say more than a…"My house was right inside there," said a shaken Tebeju Asres, pointing to where one of the excavators was digging in deep, black mud. "My mother and three of my sisters were there when the landslide happened. Now I don't know the fate of all of them."

The resumption of garbage dumping at the site in recent months likely caused the landslide, Assefa said. The dumping had stopped in recent years, but it resumed after farmers in a nearby restive region where a new garbage landfill complex was being built blocked dumping in their area.

Smaller landslides have occurred at the Koshe landfill in the past two years but only two or three people were killed, Assefa said.

"In the long run, we will conduct a resettling program to relocate people who live in and around the landfill," the Addis Ababa mayor said.

Around 500 waste-pickers are believed to work at the landfill every day, sorting through the debris from the capital's estimated 4 million residents. City officials say close to 300,000 tons of waste are collected each year from the capital, most of it dumped at the landfill.

Since 2010, city officials have warned that the landfill was running out of room and was being closed in by nearby housing and schools.

City officials in recent years have been trying to turn the garbage into a source of clean energy with a $120 million investment. The Koshe waste-to-energy facility, which has been under construction since 2013, is expected to generate 50 megawatts of electricity upon completion.

Ethiopia, which has one of Africa's fastest growing economies, is under a state of emergency imposed in October after several months of sometimes deadly protests demanding wider political freedoms.