Meaza Ashenafi

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Meaza was born in Asosa, Ethiopia. She attended both elementary and high school in Asosa and join Addis Ababa University Law department. She received a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Addis Ababa University and Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in international relations and gender studies from the University of Connecticut. She is married to Dr. Araya Asfaw, Professor of Physics at Addis Ababa University, and they have two daughters together.

Meaza served as a Judge of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia between 1989 and 1992. In 1993 she was appointed by the Ethiopian Constitution Commission as a legal adviser.{{cite book|last=Vieceli|first=Alberto|title=1000 Peacewomen Across the Globe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIQnAQAAMAAJ|year=2005|publisher=Scalo|isbn=978-3-03939-039-7|page=494}} In 1995, Meaza founded the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) with Atsedeweine Tekle and Maria Yusuf, she would become its executive director. Through her legal contacts, she has been instrumental in campaigning for women's rights in Ethiopia; her Fighting For Women's Rights In Ethiopia group had approximately 45 graduate lawyers working for it in 2002.{{cite book|last=Baregu|first=Mwesiga Laurent|title=Peace-building in the Great Lakes Region|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZTMXAQAAIAAJ|year=2002|publisher=SAPES Books|isbn=978-1-77905-120-2|page=30}}

Meaza has held a position with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. She played a part in the development of the first women's bank in Ethiopia, Enat Bank, which was established in 2011; as of 2016, she was chairing its board of directors.{{cite web |url=http://www.makers.com/blog/human-rights-lawyer-meaza-ashenafi-interview |title=Exclusive Q&A With Human Rights Lawyer Meaza Ashenafi |author= |date=2016 |website= |publisher=Makers |access-date=February 4, 2016 |quote=}} On 1 November 2018, Meaza appointed unanimously by HoPR as the President of the Supreme Court, being the first woman in the cabinet of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.{{Cite web |title=First woman chief justice sworn in for Ethiopia {{!}} African Legal Information Institute |url=https://africanlii.org/article/20181101/first-woman-chief-justice-sworn-ethiopia |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=africanlii.org}} After serving four years, she resigned that position with vice president Solomon Areda on 17 January 2023. The Ethiopian parliament appointed Tewdros Mihret as the president and Abeba Embiale as deputy president of the Supreme Court on behalf of Meaza and Solomon respectively.{{cite web |last=AfricaNews |date=2023-01-17|title=Head of Ethiopia's Supreme Court resigns |url=https://www.africanews.com/2023/01/17/head-of-ethiopias-supreme-court-resigns/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Africanews |language=en}}

In a 2009 speech Meaza was outspoken on the stereotypes that women face in Ethiopian society, making mention of Amharic proverbs for the way women are perceived, portraying them mostly as delicate and weak.{{sfn|Woldeyes|2014|p=48}} The communications tradition over time has used these proverbs to advance men and degrade women.{{sfn|Woldeyes|2014|p=48}} Some of the ideas given by these proverbs are that a woman's place is only in domestic duties and that women in general lack common sense and are irresponsible.{{sfn|Woldeyes|2014|pp=48–49}}

In 2003, Meaza became a Hunger Project Award laureate,{{cite news|title=ETHIOPIA: Interview with Meaza Ashenafi, head of women lawyers association|author=|url=http://www.irinnews.org/report/47120/ethiopia-interview-with-meaza-ashenafi-head-of-women-lawyers-association|access-date=3 February 2016|publisher=IRIN|date=7 November 2003}} winning the Grassroots Ethiopian Women of Substance Africa Prize,{{cite book|title=Tadias: Ethiopian-American Lifestyle and Business Magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9f0qAQAAIAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Tadias, Incorporated|page=5}} Two years later, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.{{cite news|title=Meaza Ashenafi Mengistu|first=Nassir|last=Mohammed|url=http://www.ethioscoop.com/biography/3511-meaza-ashenafi-mengistu.html|access-date=3 February 2016|work=Ethioscoop Review Magazine|date=15 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091154/http://www.ethioscoop.com/biography/3511-meaza-ashenafi-mengistu.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}} Her most famous case was turned into the 2014 Ethiopian film Difret, which was promoted by Angelina Jolie as executive producer and went on to win the World Cinematic Dramatic Audience Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

• Women in Ethiopia

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• {{cite book|last=Woldeyes|first=Billene Seyoum |title=Transformative Spaces: Enabling Authentic Female Leadership Through Self Transformation – the Association of Women in Business|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQSdAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|year=2014|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-643-90502-4}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Meaza Ashenafi}}

Category:1964 births

Category:Living people

Category:Women lawyers

Category:20th-century Ethiopian women

Category:21st-century Ethiopian women

Category:21st-century Ethiopian people

Category:21st-century Ethiopian politicians

Category:Ethiopian women's rights activists

Category:People from Amhara Region

Category:Ethiopian judges

Category:Women chief justices

Category:Organization founders

Category:Women founders