An Interview with Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
by Carielle Doe

How was it to lose the 1997 election and to then see what happened in Liberia in the following years?
"Agonizing...but I didn't just sit down and watch, I went to work on it. So we continued to mount an effort to convince leaders in the sub-region, leaders in Africa, leaders in the world, that the situation here was not in the national interest and that we needed another change and we worked continuingly until we all finally got to Accra, that lead to the peace process…"

Why did you choose to return to Liberia and try again?
"Because I had invested so much of my life in this. 25 years of being a part of the struggle and all the consequences that went with that...I've been involved in trying to join and contribute and agitate for the process of change and each successive government did not deliver what we knew the Liberian people had fought for, died for, and struggled for; so the importance was to try this one time and I just thank God that the Liberian people decided to elect me for this task and that God was a part of it and that we now have this opportunity to bring the change that we have all worked for."

What is your perspective as a woman interacting with African men given our social norms regarding gender?
"I think I'll just be operating at a higher level in which I will have equal say and make equal contribution to the development thinking and the development action...I've been working with presidents for a long time in my professional life. So, many of them know me and I think that's why I've got so much support from all of them. Don't forget: I keep saying that I'm a professional. I'm a technocrat who happens to be a woman."

Do you feel overwhelmed?
"No. Not yet. Maybe it will come, but for now I feel challenged, and I feel humbled... Challenged by the great potential to turn things around and deliver for our people, humbled by the enormity of the challenge…but I'm not overwhelmed, you know? I think I have the capacity and the courage and commitment to rise to the challenge.

What is the biggest problem that needs to be addressed in Liberia first?
"Peace and security. Our peace is very fragile. We've still got many pockets of discontent.  We still have many war-weary youth that are unemployed and uneducated and don't have any means to engage themselves in productive and constructive endeavors; and they are vulnerable, so we have to respond to that to maintain the peace, otherwise we could…have another series of problems. Our challenge is to quickly respond to their needs and make them feel like they have a future and that they're part of this whole momentum of change."

In an interview you said: "[Women] carry the biggest burden in times of both war and peace." In terms of the disempowerment of women during the war especially with the rapes, seeing husbands and fathers who were supporting them killed and now because of no education, low employment rates, thus no money, thus many end up dating men much older than they are, etc, what do you think it means for young Liberian women to see a female president?

"I think it means that there's a chance that their lives will be changed, you know? That no longer will they be preyed upon by a male-dominated society, that the laws that protect women will be enforced, that their young children-particularly girls- will get an opportunity to go to school, and that their role in society will be enhanced at all levels. And the market-women who voted for me in such overwhelming numbers know that the conditions in which they work with their young children will be improved, so overall I think women know that change is on the way for them and that this means that the quality of their lives will be better.

"I think the main thing is to give them an education. You know we have...young girls and the many women who are illiterate. Our market women. Teach them the basics so that they too can feel like they're capable of making a contribution and they have the potential to rise above the level that they and their parents and their grandparents have always been...market women, or domestic servants and all of that. Now we can help them to move on."

How do you intend to bolster female involvement in big business and politics in liberia?
"In politics its easy because first of all the cabinet's going to reflect a very effective role for women, so that's the first thing: I will encourage women to seek leadership roles in political parties.  Big business will require women themselves to take the initiative, because what we will do is create the environment so that Liberian entrepreneurs can flourish and that those who are in the business sector can do more and that they too can then serve as models to other women who would like to enter the private sector.

"Our market women who operate at the petty trading level: we're trying to see if we can identify those who can be assisted you know to make the jump from being a petty trader...to being a commercial person or trader at a higher level, and hopefully that in itself will start a process of enhancement for womens' role in the business sector."

You have also said in interviews that one of your weaknesses is that you can be tough. Do you think that is more necessary for a female president because of perceptions that others might have?
In our particular circumstances in Liberia, you need to be a bit of both. One needs to be tough because we have a lot of indiscipline that has been part of our culture in recent years. Lawlessness. So you have to deal with that in a very forceful way so people know that their behavior has to conform to the law and to the certain standards.

But at the same time there are deep wounds in our nation, wounds that have divided us. And so one has to also be motherly to try to help to heal those wounds by letting people know that you do care about them, and their future, and their children. So we have to combine both of those and I just hope that I'll be able to do that. I think so, I'm optimistic that we can meet that challenge also.

Are you confident about the future of Liberia's youth?
Oh very much so. I think our youths are good people basically, their childhood has been taken away from them, their future has been compromised, but they are still young people who want to be accepted, who want to have a future, they want to be professionals, they want to be able to play their rightful roles in society, they just need the leadership, the guidance, the example, and that's what I hope we'll bring for them."

After peace, what is your biggest concern:
"Development. Bringing basic needs to the people. Unacceptable. No lights, no water, no jobs, and so the two are interrelated of course; we can only do those things if we have a certain measure of peace and security. But the challenge is gonna be development…developing balance, developing equal opportunity, providing basic needs, so that's where my strength is anyway."

What is your advice for young women who want to make a difference?
"I think get two things: get as much of an education as you can, be a professional, and then get involved, take a stake, you know. Decide what you want to be in life and go for it and find the means to rise above the stereotyping of women, and its happening, huh? We just need more of a critical mass all over the place in every country, in every region, and I hope that my own elevation will also serve as a motivation to women to aspire to higher levels and to reach their own potential.

For more information please contact:
Carielle Doe
Email: carielle@gmail.com