Meet the Heroine: Atifete Jahjaga

Atifete Jahjaga was born 20 April 1975. She is a Kosovar politician and stateswoman who served as the third President of Kosovo.[a] She was the first female President of the Republic of Kosovo, the first non-partisan candidate and the youngest female head of state to be elected to the top office. Atifete served as Deputy Director of the Kosovo Police, holding the rank of Major General the most senior among women officers in Southeastern Europe. (Wikipedia)

Atifete Jahjaga was the fourth president of the Republic of Kosovo. She was the first female president of Kosovo and the youngest to ever be elected to that office. Atifete took office in April 2011, just over a month after Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. Jahjaga was a complete political unknown at the time. However, she received a phone call asking if she would be willing to take up the mantle of the presidency. She was elected less than 24 hours after she received the call. Till date, Jahjaga hasl refused to give the name of the person who called her in 2011.

Photo: kosovo2.0

Jahjaga served for five years and worked to institutionalize efforts to rehabilitate and reintegrate survivors of sexual violence from the war in Kosovo. During her time in office, citizens of Kosovo consistently ranked the Office of the President as the most trusted institution. She was known to have full respect for the law. The Anti-Corruption Agency cited Jahjaga and her cabinet as the best example of transparency and accountability among public officials. (beliefnet.com)

Atifete Jahjaga is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders and the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Durham (2013),

the Leadership in Public Service Award from the Clinton Global Initiative (2014), and the

honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Leicester (2015). In addition to her

native Albanian, Atifete Jahjaga also speaks Serbian and English. She is married to Mr. Astrit Kuçi and lives in Prishtina. (Coleurope.eu)

Feature Picture credit: Twitter.com

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