The World Trade Organization held a special meeting of the General Council and appointed Nigerian candidate Ngozi Okonjo-Ivella as the Director-General of the WTO. Okonjo-Ivella became the first female Director-General of the WTO.
First, the World Trade Organization welcomes women leaders for the first time.
Colorful printed headscarves, cotton skirts, necklaces and earrings all have traditional African elements. On the stage of international finance, Okonjo-Ivella often wears traditional clothes and quotes famous sayings in his native Igbo language to explain seemingly complicated problems. It's different among elites in suits and ties. At the same time, this female head has a broad international vision and deep connections.
She has worked in the World Bank for 25 years, twice as Nigeria's finance minister and once as Nigeria's foreign minister. At present, she is the chairman of the board of directors of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, and was once regarded as an outsider because of her lack of work experience in the field of international trade.
Second, women leaders who grew up in the war.
Okonjo-Ivella 1954 was born in a professor's family. At that time, Nigeria was still a British colony, studying ballet, playing the piano and reading books. She had a very happy childhood. She and her grandmother lived in the country for some time. She said that living in the countryside has cultivated her character of concentration and self-discipline.
After the outbreak of the Nigerian civil war, the Okonjo-Ivella family lost everything and began a turbulent life without food. 18 years old, Bachelor of Economics from Harvard University, Ph.D. in Regional Economic Development from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Third, the working experience of female leaders.
From 65438 to 0982, Okonjo-Ivella joined the World Bank and started his career for more than 20 years, covering the Middle East, East Asia and Africa. After that, she was promoted all the way, from an agricultural economist who paid attention to Africa to a female vice president and agency secretary-general of the World Bank 1. ?
She made history many times. In July 2020, she told WTO members: You need energy, you need enthusiasm, you need to see opportunities in challenging places, and I am the one who can bring these.
Now that she has stepped onto the stage and started her four-year term, how will this woman head show her strength when the WTO and global trade are facing the challenge of COVID-19 epidemic? We will wait and see!