H.E. Girma Wolde-Giorgis is President of Ethiopia. He began his career in public office as a member of parliament in 1953 and was elected president of the parliament for three consecutive years. He helped win a seat for the Ethiopian Parliament in the International Parliamentary Union and served as deputy Commissioner of the Peace Programme drawn up in 1969 by the provisional military government to settle the Eritrean problem peacefully. He also served as President of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society- Eritrea Branch, Board President of Cheshire Home, and Managing Director of Leprosy Control Organization.