If you need to pursue your interests, do not expect anyone else to do it for you.

From day one, my mantra has been - and will continue to be - that as a government we were there to serve the people, not the other way around.

We do not have many women leaders in the world. But if you look at the current examples, most of those few female leaders that we have today lead their countries under the pressure of difficult political and economic circumstances. They all posses strong personalities and have real political influence on the domestic and international scene.

I have led the way for moving women from traditional roles to strategic positions and inspired girls and women throughout Africa to seek leadership positions.

While I am a lawyer by profession and have travelled to several countries, working and educating myself, I came from a rural background in a Third World country at a time when women were told what their place was and whose mothers enjoyed even less.

Women are more focused on the development of the quality of life in their countries. They are more involved in social and family policies, childcare, and poverty reduction.

Women have more inner power for creation, starting from family and home and ending with professional activity and politics.