Having spent four decades in politics,
there are few things that Sheikh
Hasina has not encountered. Exile, an
assassination attempt, murder charges
and arrest are just some events that
she has lived through. Under Hasina’s
leadership, Bangladesh saw its child
mortality rate halved from 146 (per
thousand live births) in 1990 to 54 in
- Apart from this, the number of
chronically food insecure people in
the country fell from 40 million to 27
million people.
Tsai Ing-Wen will take office later this
month, and apart from being the first
female president of Taiwan, she is
also the first East Asian head of state
unrelated to a former national leader.
Her first run for presidency was in
2012, where she was defeated by Ma
Ying-jeou. However, Tsai’s next attempt
saw a landslide victory with a 56%
vote. Analysts attribute this success
partially to people’s discontent with
Ma’s failed economic reforms. agPark Geun-hye is a pioneer in many
ways. Not only is she the first female
president of South Korea and the
first female head of state in Korea’s
history, she was also the first South
Korean president to be born a South
Korean citizen. A 51.6% approval
electoral win left no doubts about
Park’s popularity, and she is known
for being especially adept at handling
foreign policy issues with a tough yet
non-provocative attitude.Sheikh Hasina
PRime ministeR oF banGlaDesh
office term: 1996–2001, 2009–preSeNtPark Geun-hye
PResiDent oF soUth koRea
office term: 2013–preSeNtTs a i Ing-wen
PResiDent oF taiwan
office term: 20 may 2016PHOTO © RUSSELL WATKINS/DFID, HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE