"Interviewer: Anything else you would like to share? Billene Seyoum:I consider myself a feminist and not afraid to claim the word despite the perception it draws in people’s minds. In this regard, I encourage people to seek to understand before concluding."

"Interviewer: What leisure time activities are you involved with? (You are also known for writing poetry and engaging in activities that promote gender equality) Billene Seyoum:I absolutely love hiking and trekking and seize opportunities to do so whenever I can. I consistently write poetry and now perform every month. However, writing poetry is not a leisurely activity for me – rather it is a continuous artistic exhalation to that endured and experienced in the inner realm. [Billene has been writing since the age of 12]."

"We want to become the backbone of the economy."

"Sinknesh is not a woman of excuses; under her leadership and a great team effort, the mining industry is growing significantly with major involvement of the private sector."

"Sinknesh is a great role model to many young women of our nation and AWiB thanks her for sharing her story."

"She leads her life with a purpose and her purpose is to see this country prosper. Her purpose is to work to the best of her ability to support the nation’s economic agenda succeed."

"It is a great honor to return to the Ministry of Defense. I am committed to strengthening Ethiopia’s security, working to ensure peace and stability in the region, and advancing the modernization of our defense forces."

"I look forward to strengthening our ties with Somalia and ensuring that both our nations move forward in peace and cooperation, especially in defense matters."

"As Defense Minister, I understand the magnitude of the responsibility I carry. I am committed to facing the challenges head-on and ensuring that Ethiopia remains secure and resilient."

"Appointed minister of defense, Aisha Mohammed Mussa is a fighter who will have the demanding task of leading Ethiopia's defense efforts at a critical time for the nation."

"Government and opposition parties have to understand we are living in a common house and focus on things that unite us, not what divides us, to create a country and generation that will make all of us proud"

"As you are best placed to know, young people are rarely consulted in meaningful ways during the creation of strategies. Nor are they identified as a major group experiencing unemployment and poverty. Few of the action plans link youth-focused strategies to specific targets and budget outlays or regard the youth situation as a major cross-cutting issue."

"Child hunger is a moral challenge to us all. As a citizen, I find that hunger is not just a moral issue but it is also a political issue in the larger sense of the word"

"I recognize that no society or political order is perfect but we have the duty and obligation to ensure that we are moving toward a less imperfect political order to a more perfect order for all citizens."

"The absence of peace victimizes firstly women, so during my tenure, I will emphasize women’s roles in ensuring peace and the dividends of peace for women."

"I dream of an Ethiopia, of an Africa that is free of hunger, a world where no mother should bury their child because of hunger or worst still because no one cares."

"Despite many obstacles facing young people, they are always hopeful and optimistic that they will be able to enter the job market and make significant contributions to their society; and they are placing increasing importance in creating their own opportunities and becoming entrepreneurs, including in growing areas, such as green technologies."

"Let me assure you that I will do my best not only as an Ethiopian but as an African in my heart and soul; so that we can show the world that women can also deliver, maybe differently, but deliver."

"In so many areas — agriculture, transport, energy, the water sector, multisector — the support we have been getting for years from the African Development Bank, up to more than one billion dollars, has been very vital for Ethiopia."

"For the mother who sees her child die because of lack of food, the economy of resource scarcity is irrelevant and the politics of public policy does not matter; they do not help a grieving mother, she has lost her child because there is no food, worst still, because no one cares."

"“I grew up in a family of four girls. I’m the firstborn. But I had a very amazing family especially my father, who has always told us that there is nothing that a woman or a girl cannot do. So this has been my motto all my life and in whatever I did, by the way, I was the first woman to do this, the first woman to do that, so I was daring.”"

"Peace is not simply the absence of war; it is the presence of justice, equality, and opportunity."

"Women bring a different perspective to leadership, one rooted in inclusiveness and compassion."

"Africa’s future depends on how we empower our youth today."

"Democracy must deliver dignity and hope, not just institutions."

"If the history of Africa was written by Africans and by women, I think we would find many unsung heroes."