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VOA News - audio activity
More Women
Become National Leaders; When
Will the U.S. Follow?
Written by Nancy
Steinbach
19 November 2005
Listen to the report
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS
in VOA Special English.
More women are becoming national
leaders. The newest include Angela
Merkel. She is expected to become
the first female chancellor of
Germany on Tuesday. Germany has
the biggest economy in Europe.
And, in Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
has claimed victory as the first
woman elected president of an
African nation. She had almost
sixty percent of the final ballot
count after the vote on November
eighth. Her opponent, former soccer
star George Weah, disputes the
results. But international observers
say the election was generally
free and fair.
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf studied
at Harvard University in the United
States and was an economist at
the World Bank.
Around the world, in the past
one hundred years, fewer than
fifty women have served as heads
of state.
A young Danish man named Martin
Christensen has put together an
extensive Web site called guide2womenleaders
dot com. That's g-u-i-d-e-the
number two-womenleaders.
It says Sirivamo Bandaranaike
of Sri Lanka became the first
female prime minister in modern
times in nineteen sixty. Isabel
Peron of Argentina became the
first woman president in nineteen
seventy-four.
But, in Mongolia, Suhbaataryn
Yanjmaa had served as acting head
of state from nineteen fifty-three
to nineteen fifty-four. And Song
Qingling was acting head of state
in China from nineteen sixty-eight
to 'seventy-two.
Other national leaders in the
twentieth century included Indira
Gandhi of India, Golda Meir of
Israel and Margaret Thatcher of
Britain.
Michael Genovese is editor of
the book "Women as National
Leaders." He says almost
thirty women have become heads
of state since nineteen ninety.
They include presidents Mary McAleese
of Ireland, Vaira Vike-Freiberga
of Latvia and Tarja Halonen of
Finland. They also include President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the
Philippines, and prime ministers
Helen Clark of New Zealand and
Begum Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh.
American women have been politically
active for many years, but they
hold only about fifteen percent
of government positions. Geraldine
Ferraro was a Democratic candidate
for vice president in nineteen
eighty-four. But the United States
has never had a woman president
or vice president.
Many political scientists think
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
has a good chance to become president
in the near future. The wife of
former president Bill Clinton
is a Democrat. Other people think
Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice would make a good Republican
president or vice president.
Some national leaders are not
elected but are born into royal
families. This week, one member
of a royal family, Princess Sayako
of Japan, lost her place when
she married a commoner.
Japanese law does not permit a
female emperor. But things could
change. Crown Prince Naruhito
has only one child, a little girl.
Princess Aiko will be four years
old on December first.
IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English
was written by Nancy Steinbach.
Our reports are online at voaspecialenglish.com.
I'm Steve Ember.
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