Hopefully one day in Lebanon: A cabinet with 50% women in Ethiopia 

For the first time in the history of the country, the Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, announced yesterday the formation of a small cabinet with women constituting half of its members. The Army Chief of Staff, Fitsum Arega, disclosed that women occupy key positions in the 20-minister government, including the newly-created ministry for peace to supervise the federal police and intelligence agencies. “Women will have key ministerial portfolios, including the ministries for peace, trade, industry and defense,” he tweeted. Aisah Mohammad will be the first woman to ever hold the post of defense minister of the country with a population of 100 million. Furthermore, it is to be noted that the former speaker of the house, Muferiat Kamil, was appointed as the new minister of peace, the first woman in the nation’s history to hold this position last April. Finally, it is also worth mentioning that the former Ethiopian cabinet consisted of 28 ministers, and included only 5 women. (Al Mustaqbal, October 17, 2018)