Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: ‘When Women Lead, Societies Flourish’

As Africa’s first democratically elected female head of state and Liberia’s first female president, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf garnered international acclaim for leading her country through an Ebola crisis, the reconciliation process after a decades-long civil war, and dramatic economic, social, and political change. The recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize and a U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, she delivered the “Emerging Voices Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging” plenary yesterday. Here are five takeaways from her remarks:

1. Empowering women: As Africa’s first democratically elected female head of state, I have seen firsthand the transformative power of women leadership. When women lead, societies flourish. When women’s voices are heard, communities thrive. Yet despite the progress we have made, the road to gender parity in leadership remains long and fraught with challenges across Africa. Deeply entrenched cultural biases continue to restrict women’s access to education, economic opportunities, and positions of influence. One of the most significant barriers to women’s leadership is a systemic undervaluation of our contribution in many societies. Women are expected to remain in the background, performing essential but unrecognized labor.

I recall a time in my presidency when I met a young girl in rural Liberia who told me she wanted to be a doctor, but her family believed that educating a child was a wasted investment. This story is not unique. It is the reality for countless girls across Africa. Overcoming these barriers requires deliberate action, policies that support equal education for girls, initiatives that create opportunities for women in business and politics, and a shift in cultural attitudes that recognize the inherent value of women as leaders.

2. Responding to Ebola: Our experience in Liberia and the other two West African nations with a devastating Ebola outbreak in 2014 speaks to the importance of community-based responders, the majority of whom are women. Initially, we adopted a militant approach to stop the movement of people across borders. This led to conflict between soldiers and citizens, resulting in the death of a young person. As the disease spread, citizens left the country. Businesses closed. The national GDP—our gross domestic product—sharply declined, and thousands died, including doctors and nurses.

Rejecting the prediction that 1 million people would die, we took charge of the Ebola response using a coordinated approach of one plan, one strategy, one program. This meant a well-connected and integrated response involving the government and all international supporters. This meant we didn’t want to be told what to do and what to say. We wanted to be in charge of our own destiny. It brought recognition, support, and responsibility to those who earned it and those who needed it most. Community health workers—they are the ones who became the first responders, and later they were well prepared to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

3. Addressing mental health: Mental health remains one of the most overlooked aspects of public health across Africa. Stigma, inadequate funding, and shortages of trained professionals have left millions without access to the care they need. In Liberia, the situation is particularly dark. The scars of war that left traumatized old and young people, the Ebola crisis and how it affected them, the ongoing struggles with poverty and instability—all leave deep psychological wounds on our people. We continue to work to find the means to address those. In 2013, we enacted a law called the Mental Health Act that can be linked to the prominent level of abuse, neglect, and stigma faced by people with lived experience. Since enacting the law, we have seen considerable progress. Much more needs to be done, of course, but we have commenced the training of mental health clinicians and health workers. We’ve established mental health wellness units across the country and promoted the creation of civil society groups to advocate for mental health awareness.

The World Health Organization has estimated that mental health disorders cost the global economy $1 trillion per year due to lost productivity. African nations that do not invest in health will experience untreated mental illnesses that lead to lower work efficiency and reduce workforce participation. Moreover, nations that integrate mental health care into their health care systems experience improved workplace productivity. Studies show that every $1 invested in mental health provides a return of $4 in productivity and health outcomes.

4. Surviving war: Because of our two decades of civil war, our young people lost opportunities to go to school. When peace came, there were adolescents who’d never learned to read and write. Everything they did was survival, whether it was to steal, whether it was to beg, whether it was to commit crimes. We concentrated a lot on the reconstruction of the country, the reestablishment of peace. I don’t think we did enough to address the traumas that those young people faced and that are still faced today. We have never found the approach to address that, to change their whole attitude about education as a priority—better than survival. That’s still a work in progress, an unfulfilled dream that we have to work on.

5. Being a Nobel laureate: For one thing, it becomes a symbol. It becomes a brand, and it becomes something that you live by the rules. As a Nobel laureate, you are looked up to as a good example in your attitudes, statements, in whatever you do. And so, you do what you can to fulfill that role. That doesn’t stop you, of course, from taking different tough positions on different things in accordance with your own shared values and your principles. The Nobel Prize does not give you those values. It recognizes those values, because you already have them.