Azeb Mesfin
Encyclopedia
Azeb Mesfin is an Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

n women's right activist, businesswoman, member of parliament, and a political spouse. She is also the vice-president of Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS and founder and patron of Ethiopia's National Initiative for Mental Health. In early 2009, she was appointed deputy head of the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray by its CEO Abadi Zemu.

Political career

Azeb, born in Wolqayt
Wolqayt
Wolqayt is a woreda and region in northwestern Ethiopia...

 formerly part of Gonder now in the Tigray Region
Tigray Region
Tigray Region is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1...

 of Ethiopia, is the wife of Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi Asres is the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Since 1985, he has been chairman of the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front , and is currently head of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front .Meles was born in Adwa, Tigray in Northern Ethiopia, to an Ethiopian father from...

 and the mother of their three children; Semhal, Marda and Senay Meles. She was elected in 2005 to the House of Peoples Representatives (the lower House of the Ethiopian Parliament) representing her home woreda
Woreda
Woreda is an administrative division of Ethiopia , equivalent to a district . Woredas are composed of a number of Kebele, or neighborhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia...

 of Wolqayt
Wolqayt
Wolqayt is a woreda and region in northwestern Ethiopia...

 and Humera
Humera
Humera is a town in northern Ethiopia, near the borders of Sudan and Eritrea. Located in Mi'irabawi Zone of the Tigray Region, this town has a latitude and a longitude of . Humera is the administrative center of Kafta Humera woreda.- Overview :Humera is served by Humera Airport...

, and serves as chair of its Social Affairs Standing Committee. Her role has at times been controversial, with some members of Ethiopia's diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...

 alleging that, during the period in which she was an executive at the parastatal Mega Corporation, she was involved in "the impropriety of mingling public, private and party-owned businesses."

However Azeb is also known for her aggressive work to teach rural Ethiopians about the issues of HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia
Ethiopia has a large and very vulnerable population, with an estimated 15 percent of the population living below the poverty line. HIV/AIDS is one of the key challenges for the overall development of Ethiopia, as it has led to a seven-year decrease in life expectancy and a greatly reduced...

and advocating for more women's rights. In January 2007, she was given the "Legacy of a Dream" award for her leadership and during an awards ceremony commemorating the life of the famous civil rights activist and leader Dr. Martin Luther King.

Her appearance at a special ceremony to honor the First Ladies of Africa for their efforts against the spread of HIV/AIDS held by Georgetown University of Washington DC on January 15, 2007 was met by protests of exiled Ethiopians." The University was awarding it's "John Thompson Legacy of a Dream Award" to the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS for its leadership and service toward the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Azeb Mesfin was to accept the award on behalf of the organization along with the first ladies of Zambia and Rwanda.
She started the organization "Ethiopian Coalition of Women against HIV/AIDS" and continues to work closely with community leaders to ensure the rights of women,fight harmful traditional practices and HIV/AIDS. She said the award she received is not just for her organization but for the entire Ethiopian women declaring "the award is the result of the relentless struggle waged by Ethiopian women."

External links

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