( L - R ) ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF, DR. ANGELA DOROTHEA MERKEL AND GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO
ON WEDNESDAY March 8, Jamaican women will have a reason to celebrate International Women's Day in a more special way than they have in the past.
Portia Simpson Miller, Minister of Labour and Sport, on Saturday February 25, became the first female leader of the People's National Party (PNP) and in just under a month, will head the nation as our first female Prime Minister.
This represents a giant step for Jamaica and the Caribbean. Mrs. Simpson Miller will be the second woman in our region to lead a government.
Flair congratulates her elevation to a position that far too few women have held around the world. But things are changing, the world is being run by women. Well, not quite but the trend of women leaders across the globe is not merely coincidence. After thousands of years with mostly male premiers, presidents, and prime ministers, maybe it's time to give the ladies a turn.
Jamaica, never a country to be left behind have caught on with the trend. When Prime Minister P.J. Patterson leaves office, Mrs. Simpson Miller will be sitting in his chair.
SIMPSON MILLER
Simpson Miller was born in Wood Hall, St. Catherine. She attended the Marlie Hill Primary School, St. Martin's High School and the Union Institute, Miami Florida where she read for a bachelors degree in public administration. While completing her degree she also completed a diploma in computing, programming and public relations.
She is a former Minister of Tourism and Sport with responsibilities for Entertainment and Gender Issues and a vice-president of the PNP since 1978.
OTHER WOMEN ON TOP IN THEIR COUNTRIES
DR. ANGELA DOROTHEA MERKEL
The current Chancellor of Germany. As chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) she leads a coalition with its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
Merkel has been the chair-woman of the CDU since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary party group from 2002 to 2005. She is the first female Chancellor of Germany, the first former citizen of East Germany to lead the re-unified Germany and the first woman to lead Germany since it became a modern nation state in 1871.
ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF, LIBERIA
On January 16 Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was sworn in as the president of Liberia, the first woman ever elected head of an African state. Born and educated in Monrovia, she continued her studies in the United States in the 1960s. She studied at the University of Colorado at Boulder and obtained a masters degree from Harvard University, then returned to Liberia and served in the early 1970s as a Finance minister for President William Tolbert. Called the 'Iron Lady' of Liberian politics, 'Ma' Sirleaf returned to Liberia after (then President CharlesTaylor fled to Nigeria) in 2003.
VERONICA MICHELLE BACHELET JERIA
Born September 29, 1951, she is a Chilean. socialist politician and the first woman to be elected president of her country. Her presidency will be inaugurated on March 11, 2006. Bachelet, who served as Health Minister and Defence Minister under President Ricardo Lagos, is a separated mother of three and a self-described agnostic, which sets her apart in a predominantly conservative and Catholic country.
She speaks Spanish, English, German, Portuguese, French, and some basic Russian.
GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO
Born April 5, 1947, she is the 14th and current president of the Philippines. She is the country's second female president and was the first female vice-president in 1998. She is the daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal.
Arroyo was launched into the presidency in 2001 by the EDSA II Revolution that toppled Joseph Estrada from power amid accusations of widespread corruption. She did not enter politics until 1992, 27 years after her father left office. She was elected to the Philippine Senate in 1992 and was re-elected in 1995, topping the senatorial elections with nearly 16 million votes.
As a legislator, Arroyo filed over 400 bills and authored or sponsored 55 laws of economic importance during her tenure as senator.
Information taken from en.wikipedia.org, www.who2.com and /www.answers.com.
