Liberia's Iron Lady (17 images)

In 2006, after a two-decade brutal war in Liberia, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf earned the nickname "The Iron Lady" as the first democratically elected female President of an African Nation. She took on a country with a violent legacy of warlord politics and impoverished population near the bottom of the UNDPs human development index.

Almost three years later, there are improvements. Basic services like water and electricity can be found in some of the capital's...
more »

In 2006, after a two-decade brutal war in Liberia, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf earned the nickname "The Iron Lady" as the first democratically elected female President of an African Nation. She took on a country with a violent legacy of warlord politics and impoverished population near the bottom of the UNDPs human development index.

Almost three years later, there are improvements. Basic services like water and electricity can be found in some of the capital's neighborhoods. And the World Bank puts unemployment at 70 percent, down from 85 percent two-years ago.

But loyalists to the ex-dictator Charles Taylor and an impoverished population wanting immediate change threaten to disrupt stability efforts in Liberia. In a 2008 US Institute of Peace-funded survey of more than 1,000 former fighters, 30 percent of the people surveyed said they were willing to take up arms again for reasons such as earning a living wage, for family and community acceptance, and respect for their tribe or religion.

President Sirleaf makes weekly appearances in the streets, fields, and marketplace to maintain her image as a woman working for the common Liberian despite warnings from her security forces to avoid such dangerous trips. This is a portrait of a day in the life of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her SS security forces.
« less