Addis Ababa: Ethiopian lawmakers have unanimously elected the country’s first female president, days after approving one of the world’s few ‘gender-balanced’ Cabinets.

Seasoned diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde succeeds Mulatu Teshome in the largely ceremonial post.

She calls Ethiopia’s recent transfer of power to a reformist prime minister ‘exemplary’ and says she will focus on bringing together all sides to achieve peace in a country with multiple ethnic-based conflicts in recent months.

The prime minister’s chief of staff says that ‘in a patriarchal society such as ours, the appointment of a female head of state not only sets the standard for the future but also normalizes women as decision-makers in public life.’

Ethiopian lawmakers last week approved a new Cabinet with a record 50 percent female members, including the country’s first woman defense minister.