Girl power - Top 10 "Women of 2008"

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World's best mayor - Helen Zille

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To my great surprise, 90 percent of those listed in 'VIPS of 2008 lists', are men. Although I am not a hard core feminist what so ever, I am a bit ticked off. There have been so many women that have contributed to the past 12 months. So I decided to make my very own Top 10 Women of 2008 - featuring females who for what ever reason made an impression on me. I have put them in random order as it is practically imposible to grade these wonderful people.

1. Ingrid Betancourt (Colombia): On July 3 2008, former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt was freed after being taken hostage by the Colombian rebel group FARC over six years ago. In addition to Betancourt fourteen more hostages were relased in an incredibly clever operation, which has been described as a 'holywood rescue'. For starters, no single gun shot was fired.

2. Miriam Makeba (South Africa): 'Mama Africa' died after a concert in Italy at the age of 76. Not only did she put South Africa on the international musical and did she as the first African woman win a Grammy Award, Makeba also put quite a bit of effort in making  the world aware of what happened in her country during the dark apartheid years. She spent 30 years in exhile for taking part in the freedom struggle, and returned home in 1990 - after Nelson Mandela, who was just freed, asked her to come back.

3. Hilary Clinton (USA): She used to be First Lady, climbed up to senator, she then was one of the two democratic candidates for presidency and now will fullfill the position of Secretary of State for the next four years. Bottom line: Clinton has showed women across the world that everything is possible and that the sky is the limit.

4. Jestina Mukoko (Zimbabwe): Jestina Mukoko, a former journalist and one of Zimbabwe's most prominent human rights activists, was kidnapped early december and held for over three weeks. Being accused of plotting a coup against the government of president Robert Mugabe, this strong soul could receive the death penalty if found guilty. Mukoko heads a network of hundreds of monitors across the country that catalogueevents of human rights violation.   

5. Barbara Hogan (South Africa): South Africa enjoyed a breath of fresh air when interim president Kgalema Mothlante replaced health ministerManto Tshabala-Msimang with Aids expert Barbara Hogan. Over the past years, Msimang was often criticized for her stance towards HIV/ AIDS- the biggest health problem in South Africa. Her emphasis on treating the disease with garlic, beetroot and African potatoes rather then with anti retrovirals granted her the name Dr Beetroot.

6. Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma): In May 2008, Burma's junta extended the house arrest of the country's democratically elected opposition leader and nobe peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. In 1990 the 62-year-old politician and leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) won a general election that was ignored by the junta. Since then, she has been detained in her home without trial for 12 of the past 18 years.

7. Bettie Page (USA): Page died in 2008 a the age of 85, and will be remembered as one of the world's most famous pin-ups ever, a cult figre who helped usher the sexual revolution in the west. During the hightide of her career, between 149 and 1957, an estimated 20.000 black and white pictures were taken of her. 

8. Helen Zille (South Africa): She leads South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, while serving Cape Town as the city's mayor. The reason why she appears in my list of fabulous females is because among other things she won the 2008 World Mayor Award. "Her only equals are Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela," www.worldmayor.com described her. Apartfrom being a great mayor she is also a people's person, an efficient leader and determined to make South Africa a better place.

9. Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan): Although Bhutto, Pakistans first femae prime minister, was murdered three days before the end of 2007 and two weeks before the scheduled general elections in Pakistan.  As a result, her assasination has had a strong influence on 2008. Despite her presence, the opposition took over half the seats while president Musharraf's party suffered a huge defeat.

10. All the women in the world that have fought for themselves and others, human rights, freedom of the press, freedom of politics, better healthcare, education, gender equality, and a better life in general.