President Sirleaf's Speech At Harvard

She's definitely my favorite African President, and not just coz she's a woman...she gives results!
She spoke at At Harvard University’s 360th Commencement Ceremony

This was bits and parts from her speech that I loved if you cant stand to watch the whole 30 minute Video.
ps: I had no idea she went to Harvard

Failure and Success:

The self-confidence, sometimes called arrogance, that comes from being a Harvard graduate can also lead one down a dangerous path. It did for me. One year after my return from Cambridge, I was at it again, in a Commencement Address at my high school Alma Mater. I questioned the government’s failure to address long-standing inequalities in the society. This forced me into exile and a staff position at the World Bank. Other similar events would follow in a life in and out of country, in and out of jail, in and out of professional service. There were times when I thought death was near, and times when the burden of standing tall by one’s conviction seemed only to result in failure. But through it all, my experience sends a strong message that failure is just as important as success. You cannot appreciate success if you do not know failure.

Well said Madame President.. Random thought: I wonder if she has a twitter

On Being the First African Woman President 

I stand before you today equally proud to be the first woman president of our African continent, a continent that has itself embraced the process of change and transformation. I am proud that Liberia could once again become an elevated beacon of hope in Africa, an opportunity to join a few others as a post-conflict success story. Africa must no longer be regarded as a continent of countries with corrupt big men who rule with iron fists. It is no longer the Dark Continent in continual economic free fall, wallowing in debt, poverty and disease.



She talked about Progress and What she has done for Liberia

 After election, I moved quickly in mobilizing our governance team, sought support from partners, and tackled the challenges. In five years, we formulated the laws and policies and strategies for growth and development. We removed the international sanctions on our primary exports; introduced and made public a cash-based budget; increased revenue by over 400 percent; and mobilized foreign direct investment worth 16 times the size of the economy when I assumed office. 

 We built a small professional Army and Coast Guard, moved the economy from negative growth to average annual 6 percent. We have virtually eliminated a $4.9 billion external debt, settled a large portion of international institutional debt, and recrafted domestic arrears and suppliers’ credit. Moreover, we restored electricity and pipe-borne water, lacking in the capital for two decades; reconstructed two modern universities and rural referral hospitals; constructed or reconstructed roads, bridges, schools, training institutions, local government facilities and courts throughout the country. We established and strengthened the institutional pillars of integrity; decentralized education by establishing community colleges; brought back the Peace Corps. We mobilized financial and technical resources from U.S. foundations, sororities and individuals for support of programs aimed at the education of girls, the empowerment of adolescent youth and improved working conditions for market women.

To build a nation requires unremitting tasks. Nevertheless, the challenges for sustained Liberian growth and development remain both awesome and performable. Our stability is eroded by the thousands of returnees from U.S. prisons and regional refugee camps, the bulk of whom are lacking in technical skills. Our peace is threatened by furious neighborhood tensions where we live: two of our three neighbors have either experienced, or narrowly avoided, civil war in the past year, and we patiently host their refugees, since not even a decade ago it was they who hosted so many of us.

Implementation of our economic development agenda is constrained not by funding alone, but also by slow project execution and low absorptive capacity. Plans to enhance performance in governance move slower than desired due to long-standing institutional decay and a corrupted value system of dishonesty and dependency. The development of infrastructure is hindered by the high capital cost of restoration, engendered by the lack of maintenance, and exacerbated by wanton destruction covering more than two decades of conflict.

Yet, today, we are proud that young Liberian children are back in school, preparing themselves to play a productive role in the new Liberian society. Our seven-year-olds do not hear guns and do not have to run. They can smile again.

With multivariate tasks and transformations in tow, we can say with confidence that we have moved our war-torn nation from turmoil to peace, from disaster to development, from disarray to hope. And in this we are proud to note that it was the Liberian women who fought the final battle for peace, who came, their number and conviction the only things greater than their diversity, to demonstrate for the end to our civil war, and to rededicate their ardent energies to the peaceful pursuit of progress. I am, therefore, proud to stand before you, as humbled by their resolute sacrifices, to symbolize also the aspirations and expectations of Liberian women, African women and, I dare to say, women worldwide. They will give the time, they will fight the fight, and they will gain the victory.

You can read the rest of the Speech here