President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a a remarkalble woman, and in describing her in that sense still seems to inadequately describe the magnitude that her work has in her native Liberia, across the African continent, and the larger international community.
President Johnson Sirleaf is Africa's first democratically elected female leader. Elected in 2007, Johnson Sirleaf began the ardous task of rebuiling a state that had only recently emerged from the despairs of civil war. During her time in office the world has noted her remarkable ability to continue the "peacebuilding" process, even this past year when the Liberian nation was effected by the Ebola outbreak.
One of Johnson Sirleaf's most poignant moments on the international stage came in 2011 when she, and two other women, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work"
To adequately understand the vision of Johnson Sirleaf I believe that it is necessary to revisit her Nobel Lecture, entitled "A Voice for Freedom," where she stated;