Michelle Bachelet
Michelle Bachelet
Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeriais a Chilean Socialist Party politician who has served as the President of Chile since 11 March 2014. She previously served as President from 2006 to 2010, becoming the first woman in her country to do so. After leaving the presidency and while not immediately re-electable, she was appointed the first executive director of the newly created United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. In December 2013, Bachelet was re-elected as President of...
NationalityChilean
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth29 September 1951
CitySantiago, Chile
CountryChile
We want a more prosperous, more just, more equal, more inclusive future. I shall keep my word. I shall tell you what I think and I shall do what I say. I give you my word as a woman.
Together we recovered democracy for Chile. Now I invite you to be a part of another historic moment by electing Chile's first ever woman president. Let's make history.
We simply can no longer afford to deny the full potential of one half of the population. The world needs to tap into the talent and wisdom of women. Whether the issue is food security, economic recovery, health, or peace and security, the participation of women is needed now more than ever.
As more and more women, men and young people raise their voices and become active in local government, and more local leaders take action for the safety of women and girls, change happens.
For me, a better democracy is a democracy where women do not only have the right to vote and to elect but to be elected.
You have to be doing things that matter - responsibility, but also responsibility with epic and beautiful and noble tasks.
As a doctor, when I was minister of health and would go somewhere, little girls would come up to me and say, 'I want to be like you one day, I want to be a doctor.' Now, they tell me, 'I want to be president just like you.' All of us can dream as big as we want.
I was a woman, a divorcee, a socialist, an agnostic . . . all possible sins together.
Gender equality will only be reached if we are able to empower women.
When I'm speaking of love, when I'm speaking of reversing hate, I'm speaking not only of reconciliation - even I don't use that word - I use another word in Spanish, that's called 'reencuentro' - it's not reconciliation.
My message to women is: Women: We can do it. We are capable of doing almost anything, but we must learn we cannot do it all at once, we need to prioritize.
It was said that Chile was not ready to vote for a woman, it was traditionally a sexist country. In the end, the reverse happened: the fact of being a woman became a symbol of the process of cultural change the country was undergoing.
Violence ravaged my life. I was a victim of hatred, and I have dedicated my life to reversing that hatred.
In today's interdependent world, a threat to one becomes a menace to all. And no state can defeat these challenges and threats alone.