African and U.S. Government and Policy Leaders Underscore Value of Women in Public Service
Front row (L to R): Mariama Bayard-Gamatié, Nigerien politician and women's rights activist; Hon. Catherine Samba-Panza., Central African Republic Interim President (2014-2016); Hon. Hafida Benchahrida, Algerian Senator; Hon. Maria Teresa Fernández de la Vega, President, Fundación Mujeres Por África; Hon. Sheila Jackson-Lee, U.S. Congresswoman; Hon. Joyce Banda, President of Malawi (2012-2014); Fafa Sid Lakhdar Benzerrouki, Chairwoman, Algerian National Human Rights Council; Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter, Chief Director, Africa Multilateral Economic Relation, South Africa Department of Trade and Industry; Dr. Angelika Hoffman, Deputy Director for Science and International Initiatives, Yale University. Back row (L to R): Dr. Leslie Powell, Associate Director of Leadership Programs, Yale University; Thuli Madonsela, Public Prosecutor of South Africa (2009-2016); Ted Wittenstein, Director of International Relations and Leadership Programs, Yale University; Hon. Isata Kabia, Minister of State, Sierra Leone Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Hon. Sylvia Blyden, Sierra Leone Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children; Hon. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah Namibia Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for International Relations and Cooperation; Curtis Etherly, Director of Government Relations, The Coca-Cola Company; Amb. Lawrence Wohlers, Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, U.S. Department of State; H.E. Martin Andjaba, Ambassador of Namibia to the United States.
On May 18, Meridian International Center convened senior public and private sector experts on African affairs and women’s leadership for a special breakfast in honor of 11 women senior government leaders from Algeria, Central African Republic, Côte D’Ivoire, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Sierra Leone and South Africa. Held in the U.S. Capitol in partnership with The Coca-Cola Company and the Yale University Office of International Affairs, the breakfast maximized the opportunity for the African leaders to interact and network with their American counterparts.
The African women leaders serve or have served as heads of state, cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, and in other senior government positions. They were in Washington as participants of the Leadership Forum for Strategic Impact, a leadership exchange partnership led by Yale and the Spain-based Fundación Mujeres por África. The program consists of a series of discussions and debates on key issues faced by women in leadership positions across the globe.
Ambassador Stuart Holliday, President and CEO of Meridian International Center, opened the Global Dialogue Series program with a welcome message. He was followed by Ted Wittenstein, Director of International Relations and Leadership Programs at Yale University; Curtis Etherly, Director of Government Relations with The Coca-Cola Company, and Maria Teresa Fernández de la Vega, President of the Fundación Mujeres Por África and Former Deputy Prime Minister of Spain.
Throughout the course of the breakfast, inspirational remarks on the power and promise of women in public sector leadership roles were delivered by Congressman Ami Beri (D-CA-7), a Member of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX-18), the Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
In addition to the Members of Congress, the breakfast was attended by His Excellency Martin Andjaba, Ambassador of Namibia to the United States; The Honorable Joyce Banda, former President of Malawi; Sheila Crowley, Acting Director, Peace Corps, Ambassador Laurie Fulton, Meridian Trustee; Joan Harrigan-Farrelly, Deputy Director, Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor; Dr. Tuajuanda Jordan, President, St. Mary’s College of Maryland; Ambassador Catherine Russell, recent Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, U.S. Department of State; Ambassador Stephanie Sanders Sullivan, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, U.S. Department of State; and, Ambassador Lawrence Wohlers, Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, U.S. Department of State. Overall, more than 55 women’s leadership trailblazers came together for the morning celebration.
(L to R): Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter, Chief Director, Africa Multilateral Economic Relation, South Africa Department of Trade and Industry; Thuli Madonsela, former Public Prosecutor of South Africa; Dr. Eyerusalem Siba, Research Fellow, Africa Growth Initiative, Brookings Institution; Ambassador Stephanie Sanders Sullivan, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Desiree Cormier, Africa Practice Director, Albright Stonebridge Group.
Maria Teresa Fernández de la Vega, President of the Fundación Mujeres Por África, raises a concept with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee as Algerian Senator Hafida Benchahrida listens in.
(L to R) Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter, Chief Director, Africa Multilateral Economic Relation, South Africa Department of Trade and Industry; Joan Harrigan-Farrelly, Deputy Director, Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor; Hon. Vitoria Diogo, Mozambique Minister of Work, Employment and Social Security.
Sierra Leone Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children Sylvia Blyden engages with Ambassador Cathy Russell. Amb. Russell led the State Department Office of Global Women’s Issues during the Obama Administration.
(L to R): Dr. Tuajuanda Jordan, President, St. Mary’s College of Maryland; Ambassador Laurie Fulton, Trustee, Meridian International Center; Robin Lerner, Senior Advisor and Counselor, Office of Global Women’s Issues, U.S. Department of State.
Mozambique’s Minister of Work, Employment and Social Security Vitoria Diogo shares a moment with Mariama Bayard-Gamatié, a Nigerien politician and women’s rights activist.
(L to R): Hon. Isata Kabia, Minister of State, Sierra Leone Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Hon. Joyce Banda, former President of Malawi; Hon. Sylvia Blyden, Sierra Leone Minister of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children.
Ambassador of Namibia Martin Andjaba shakes the hand of Welcome Simelane, a Minister-Counsellor (Political) with the Embassy of South Africa, as former South African Public Prosecutor Thuli Madonsela looks on.
Meridian President and CEO Ambassador Stuart Holliday with former Malawi President and current Wilson Center Distinguished Fellow Joyce Banda.
The Coca-Cola Company’s Curtis Etherly offers his perspectives on the importance of women in leadership positions in the United States, Africa and around the globe.
Congressman Ami Bera shared moving remarks on U.S. efforts to augment the number of women in government and acknowledged that significant progress still needs to be made.
Ambassador Lawrence Wohlers, former U.S. Ambassador to the Central African Republic, is reunited with Hon. Catherine Samba-Panza. From 2014-2016, Samba-Panza was the Interim President of the Central African Republic.
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African and U.S. Government and Policy Leaders Underscore Value of Women in Public Service | May 2017
