Ethiopia Soars Toward Gender Equality With Its First All-Female Flight Crew

It was an otherwise routine flight between Addis Ababa and Bangkok, except this one was making history. In November, Ethiopian Airlines commissioned its first flight crewed by all women, from the cockpit right down to maintenance.

It may seem like an easily overlooked feat, but for an African country that only adopted gender equality policies 10 years ago, the historic flight was one of many notable landmarks in the path toward bridging the gender gap.

Policies in health care, land ownership, business opportunities, and combatting violence against women have firmly taken root across the country, in large part thanks to the United Nations Women program in Ethiopia. U.N. Women focuses on gender issues in priority areas that are fundamental to women’s equality. With help from nine other U.N. programs, it have been able to support 50,000 women to start new small businesses or expand existing businesses.