THE REIGN OF LEILA LOPES, MISS UNIVERSE 2011

On September 12, 2011, Lopes was
crowned Miss Universe in São Paulo,
Brazil, receiving the title from the
former Miss Universe Ximena Navarrete
of Mexico. She is currently the 60th Miss Universe titleholder, and she is
the first Angolan woman to hold the
position. Lopes is the fourth African
to win the title since the beginning of
the worldwide pageant (South Africa in
1978, Namibia in 1992, Botswana in
1999 and Angola in 2011) and the
second African woman of African
descent to win following Mpule
Kwelagobe, Miss Universe 1999 from
Botswana. Lopes also became the
first woman from Angola to win a "Big
Four" beauty pageant. She is also the longest reigning Miss Universe.

In less than 48 hours Leila Lopes will crown the new Miss Universe
2012. Let's take a look briefly at what Leila regin was like.
In October, 2011, Lopes paid a visit to
Indonesia where she attended local
charity events and Puteri Indonesia
2011 Pageant held at Jakarta
Convention Center, in Jakarta.
In December, 2011, Lopes was invited
to attend the first edition of Miss Gabon Pageant in Libreville, Gabon
where she crowned the first Gabonese
representative to Miss Universe in
history, Marie-Noëlle Ada Meyo from
Ngounié Province.
Lopes traveled to Düsseldorf, Germany
with her sister titleholders Alyssa
Campanella and Danielle Doty for a
week-long USO/Armed Forces
Entertainment tour from March 9–14,
2012. During the week, she also
participated in the Beauty International
Trade Show which took place at
Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre.
Lopes walked the red carpet of the
world-renowned Cannes Film Festival in
France on May 23, 2012. She also
attended the De Grisogono Glam
Extravaganza held at the Hotel Du Cap
Eden-Roc in Cap D'Antibes, France on
the same day. Prior to her visit to
France, she was in Lisbon, Portugal for
a series of photoshoots and television
appearances. Her short visit in Portugal
was upon the invitation of Maxim
Portugal Magazine.
In June, 2012, Lopes embarked on a 5-
country West African tour that took her
to Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo
and Nigeria. Later that month,
Lopes attended the Rio+20 United
Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In October, Lopes traveled to Nicaragua
for the "Fashion for Smiles", a
spectacular fashion show which
organized by Operation Smile
Nicaragua with the collaboration from
Silhuetas models, took place at the
Crowne Plaza Convention Center in
Managua with the participation of 15 of
Miss Universe 2012 competitors from
the Americas. So far, during her reign, Lopes has travelled to Brazil,
Singapore, Indonesia, Angola, Bahamas, Gabon, Jamaica, South Africa,
Germany, Dominican Republic, Portugal, France, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire,
Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Guyana, Nicaragua, Namibia, Kenya, Mozambique
and numerous trips in the USA.

The 26-year-old beauty queen also used her title to champion HIV/AIDS
prevention and works with organisations such as YouthAIDS/PSI, Latino
Commission on AIDS, Gay Men's Health Crisis, among others. She was
also named Drylands Ambassador by the United Nation Convention to
Combat Desertification (UNCCD), meaning she was charged with helping
raise international awareness about desertification, land degradation
and drought, causes and possible solutions. This is an effort to
combat land degradation – an issue that affects not only her country
but the entire continent.
At the South South Award, Leila was honored with an award for
promoting sustainable tourism.
When Forbes released its 20 Young
Power Women in Africa 2012 list, Leila stood tall at the 8th position.

Leila is a great queen who is endowed with natural beauty and she has
a kind heart. I'm sure Leila had fun being Miss Universe 2011. Check
out some of the pictures taken during her reign.

Thanks for stopping by.