(Paris) Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was appointed on Monday as President of the World Trade Organization, joins the inner circle of women leaders in international organizations.
Here are other examples:
Christine Lagarde (European Central Bank)
French Christine Lagarde officially took over the presidency of the European Central Bank in 1is being November 2019, after being appointed by the European Council on October 18, 2019 for a term of eight years.
PHOTO OLIVIER MATTHYS, French press archive agency
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde.
MI am Lagarde, the first woman to head the institute since its launch in 1998, was a business attorney in the United States before becoming Minister of Economics (2007-2011) headed by Nicolas Sarkozy, then director general of the international organization. Monetary Fund (2011-2019).
According to a study conducted in March 2020 by OMFIF (Official Forum of Monetary and Financial Institutions), only 14 women head central banks, while there are 173.
In 2014, American Janet Yellen made history by becoming the first woman to head the world’s most powerful central bank, the US Federal Reserve, before Donald Trump expelled her four years later. After the election of Joe Biden, M.I am Yellin became the first woman to head the U.S. Treasury.
Kristalina Georgieva (FMI)
After Christine Lagarde, Bulgarian Kristalina Georgieva is the second woman to head the International Monetary Fund (IMF), since her appointment on 25 September 2019.
Photo by Nicholas Cam, AFP archive
Bulgarian Kristalina Georgieva is the second woman to head the International Monetary Fund.
This coaching economist spent most of her career at the World Bank, before becoming CEO in 2017.
Audrey Azoulay (UNESCO)
Audrey Azoulay, a former French Minister of Culture, was elected Director-General of UNESCO in the fall of 2017.
Photo by Hussein Al-Mulla, assistant journalist
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO.
She is the second woman to preside over UNESCO, after her successor, Irina Bokova. In contrast, no women led the United Nations.
Louise Mushikiwabo (OIF)
The successor to Canadian Michel Jan, Rwandan Louise Mushikiwabo was appointed at the end of 2018 as Secretary General of the International Organization of la Francophonie (OIF).
Multilingual, speaking French, English and Kinyarwanda, Louise Mushikiwabo has been the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda since December 2009. She formally assumed her position at the International Organization of la Francophonie on January 3, 2019.
Ursula von der Leyen (European Commission)
German Ursula von der Leyen took over at 1is being December 2019 President of the European Commission. She is the first woman to head this institution.
Photo by Johanna Girone, Reuters Archives
Before her appointment as President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen was Germany’s Minister of Defense.
At the head of the German military for nearly six years, she was once considered the ideal runner-up to Chancellor Angela Merkel, who appointed her minister in each of her four governments from 2005 to 2019.
Winnie Byaniema (Onoceda)
Ugandan Winnie Byanyima was appointed Director of the United Nations AIDS Agency (UNAIDS) in August 2019, and assumed office in November. She is the first woman to be appointed to head this organization that was created in 1995.
She was previously the head of the NGO Oxfam and was a director of the United Nations Development Program.
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