Abdou Diouf

Abdou Diouf is a famous leader from the country of Senegal.

He was born on September 7, 1935, in a place called Louga. His mother was Halpulaar and his father was Serer. Diouf went to school at Lycée Faidherbe in Saint-Louis. Later, he studied law at Dakar University and the Sorbonne in Paris. He finished his studies in 1959. He spent many years working in different parts of the government. He held many roles, such as a director and a minister.

Diouf became a very important part of the government in 1970. President Léopold Senghor made him the prime minister. Senghor trusted him because Diouf had much experience. On January 1, 1981, Senghor resigned from his job. This meant Diouf became the second president of Senegal. He led the country for many years. During his time, he worked on many big projects. One big project was a union called Senegambia. This was a group made with the country of Gambia. It started in 1982 but ended later after a border war with Mauritania.

One of Diouf's most important jobs was helping people stay healthy. In 1986, he started a program to fight AIDS. He used schools and the media to share important messages. He also worked with Christian and Muslim religious leaders. He wanted everyone to know how to stay safe. Because of these hard working efforts, the infection rate in Senegal stayed below 2 percent. This was helpful while the sickness spread in other parts of Africa. He also led the Organization of African Unity twice. He even asked France to help use sanctions against South Africa.

Diouf also had to manage many elections while he was president. In 1983, he held elections and let many parties run. He won that election with 83.5 percent of the vote. In 1988, he ran against a leader named Abdoulaye Wade. Diouf won that election with 72.3 percent of the vote. However, some people thought there was fraud in the voting. This caused some trouble and a state of emergency was declared.

Diouf was reelected again in 1993.

In the year 2000, a big change happened in Senegal. Diouf ran for president again against Abdoulaye Wade. In the first round, Diouf got 41.3 percent of the vote. In the second round, Wade won with 58.5 percent of the vote. Instead of fighting, Diouf gave up his power peacefully. He left his office on April 1, 2000. This was a very brave and peaceful choice. Wade even said Diouf deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for this.

Later, Diouf led the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie for many years.