This profile is part of the 2016 Global Citizen March Madness Challenge. The challenge asks you to vote for your favorite global citizens, as we match them up “tournament style” from a “Sweet 16” starting round, all the way down to a champion on April 4th.
Vote now in the Sweet 16 Round for all of your favorites HERE
Name: Angela Merkel
Hometown: Hamburg, Germany
Profession: Chancellor of Germany
Issue division: Education
Quick facts:
- PhD in Quantum Chemistry
- TIME magazine’s 2015 Person of the Year
- German Supporters call her “Mutti” or Mother
- She worked as a bartender at disco parties in college
Angela Merkel has been the Chancellor of Germany since 2005. She heads the richest and most powerful country in Europe, is regarded as the most powerful woman in the world, and was a contender for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize for her leadership on the refugee crisis.
When unprecedented numbers of refugees began streaming into Europe in 2015, many European leaders balked at providing assistance and tried - even violently - to repel asylum seekers.
Amid this crisis, Angela Merkel boldly established Germany as a safe haven. She announced that it was Europe’s moral and legal responsibility to aid those displaced by war. By the year’s end, the country took in close to a million refugees
Children displaced by war are at risk of losing out on an education as their families spend years searching for safety. While Germany has a long way to go to actually assimilate refugees, providing them temporary safe haven in a stable country will allow children to resume educations.
In a tournament (like this one) known for unpredictability, the stability of Angela’s Germany is something to envy.
First round match-up
