MONROVIA, Montserrado – President George Weah has appointed Col. Geraldine George as the deputy chief of staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia.

George will be the first female to serve in that role if she is confirmed by the Senate. She was appointed on Monday, along with other individuals, also designated to serve in different positions in the government.

Prior to her appointment, George served as senior legal officer in the army and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. She achieved the ranks of captain and first lieutenant.

She replaces Brigadier General Prince C. Johnson, III, who also recently replaced the former chief of staff, Major General Daniel Ziankahn, who is now minister of national defense.

George’s appointment as the first female deputy chief of staff was greeted by commendations on social media.

Many campaigners for women’s inclusion in government and decision-making praised the president for the decision.

Liberia has struggled to include women in its security sector. A 2011 report that aims to monitor a U.N. resolution calling for more women in the security sector said that only 3.7 percent of Liberia’s 2,000 trained soldiers were women. Of the 97 commissioned officers, six were females.

While the statistics are better within the Liberia National Police, there is still a significant gap between the number of men and women serving. Only 14.8 percent of the 3,900 police officers were women.

Featured photo courtesy of U.S. Africa Command