The former Liberia President H.E Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the health workforce at the Seventy-second World Health Assembly, WHO according to the Director General Dr Tedros Adhamon Ghebreyesus.
Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa and is also a Nobel Peace Laureate. She now wears her very new ‘cloth’ as a health workforce champion tasked to voice for freedom and advocate for health for all.
It is a privilege to announce that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of 🇱🇷, @MaEllenSirleaf, is the new @WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Health Workforce. Her standing as a leader and champion of health will be powerful instruments to promote #HealthForAll.https://t.co/j3wcgbgs7L
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 20, 2019
Following the Ebola epidemic in Liberia in 2015, she oversaw the expansion of Primary Health Care and the creation of more than 4,000 new health worker jobs as part of the post-Ebola response.
H.E. Johnson Sirleaf has become a popular symbol of democracy, leadership and gender equity, not only in her own country but throughout Africa and the developing world. She continues to champion women and economic empowerment, particularly women in leadership and politics.
The health workforce agenda is central to progress towards SDG 3,4,5,8,10. Engaging H.E Johnson Sirleaf as a WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Health Workforce, will position new momentum on investing in the education and employment of health workers, particularly women, to achieve universal health coverage and the SDGs.
Congratulations!