Wonder Woman of the Week: Naomi Mata'afa
Our Wonder Woman this week hails from the Oceanian island country of Samoa where male-dominated politics dominated the country since its independence from colonial rule. Naomi Mata'afa was born in 1957 and received both elementary and higher education in New Zealand. Mata'afa began her political career in 1985 when her country elected her to its parliament in a post which her mother previously held. Since 1985, Mata'afa has won every reelection and is one of Samoa's longest serving members of parliament. In 1991, Mata'afa became the Minister of Education; and- in 2006- became the Minister of Women, Community, and Social Development before serving as the Minister of Justice from 2011-2016.
In 2016, Naomi Mata'afa earned her post as the deputy prime minister becoming the first woman in the office as well as the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. In 2018, Mata'afa even launched a program aimed at getting women involved in environmental protection and activism. On top of all of that, Mata'afa won a chaotic 2021 election to earn the post of prime minister in a heated challenge with a looooooot of complications. (The short version being that both an accounting error and a gender quota for MP's led to some heated debates over election results.) After some intense calculations and lawsuits, Samoa recognized Mata'afa as their first woman prime minister- putting her into the unofficial Oceania hall of fame with the likes of Hilda Heine (first woman president of the Marshall Islands). On top of all of these impressive titles, Mata'afa is also the heir to her father's title as Fiame (chieftain) of her village- making her a High Chieftain and Prime Minister.
Comments