Michelle Bachelet Quotes

Having experienced personally and through my family the tragedy of Chile is something always present in my memory. I do not want events of that nature ever to happen again, and I have dedicated an important part of my life to ensuring that and to the reunion of all Chileans.

My top priority for 2012 will be to make a renewed push for women's economic empowerment and political participation.

In artillery exercises, women always win because they're more accurate.

I don't like stereotypes - no kind of stereotypes.

Today it is time to give the government a new lease of life and this new phase which is as demanding as it is inspiring requires renovated energy and new faces.

I was a woman, a divorcee, a socialist, an agnostic ... all possible sins together.

Women say that my election represents a cultural break with the past - a past of sexism, of misogyny.

The current global landscape is quite different from the not-too-distant past. The process of globalization has intensified, and the world is moving towards new forms of governance.

Because I'm a doctor, I know when you have an injury it will heal if it's clean enough to heal; if your injury is dirty, it won't heal. And so when you are talking in societies, we are also talking in healing processes, and for a good healing process, you need to make things right.

Women's strength, women's industry, women's wisdom are humankind's greatest untapped resource. The challenge then for U.N. Women is to show our diverse constituencies how this resource can be effectively tapped in ways that benefit us all.

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.

Gender equality must become a lived reality

You all want to know what is my dream? Very simple. To walk along the beach, holding the hand of my lover.

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.

The 2010 global gender gap report by the World Economic Forum shows that countries with better gender equality have faster-growing, more competitive economies.

As a vibrant force in civil society, women continue to press for their rights, equal participation in decision-making, and the upholding of the principles of the revolution by the highest levels of leadership in Egypt.

We have to make sure that women's issues are an essential element on the agendas of all heads of state, all governments.

The priority for my government is that there will be development for everyone, equally.

We have had scarce investment in women ... One of my tasks is that everyone spends much more on women.

When women earn the money for the family, everyone in the family benefits. We also know that when women have an income, everyone wins because women dedicate 90% of the income to health, education, to food security, to the children, to the family, or to the community, so when women have an income, everybody wins.

I'm working for the women in the world, today; that's my essential issue.

Educational equality doesn't guarantee equality on the labor market. Even the most developed countries are not gender-equal. There are still glass ceilings and 'leaky pipelines' that prevent women from getting ahead in the workplace.

My father respected and admired my mother and was a person who was always standing by my side, encouraging me to do more and believed in my capacity. So in that sense, my own experience was very good in becoming an empowered woman. From early on, I carried that strong message: 'You can do it.' So I never had any doubt that women can do a lot.

The respect for human rights is nowadays not so much a matter of having international standards, but rather questions of compliance with those standards.

In some places women have all the rights they deserve and in others there are big restrictions - in some countries they even mutilate women.

The possibility of my presidential candidacy emerged spontaneously in public opinion polls. For my part, I noticed people's affection when I was doing work on the ground. I think the important thing is that my candidacy was born from citizens themselves, driven by the people and which the parties picked up favorably.

I took a gamble to exercise leadership without losing my feminine nature.

There is no city or country in the world where women and girls live free of the fear of violence. No leader can claim: 'this is not happening in my backyard.'

Violence ravaged my life. I was a victim of hatred, and I have dedicated my life to reversing that hatred.

Having been a head of state gives you the possibility of getting into places others can't go.

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.

As women politicians, we talk about the most difficult themes of state security, foreign relations and development models, then ask, 'How do you make it work with your husband?' The interesting thing is that these women - most of them - don't lose the perspective that the focus is not the position but the job at hand.

Gender equality will only be reached if we are able to empower women.

In any area of the U.N. we ... have to agree on certain language that can represent the same spirit, but that can be accepted by everyone.

By including women in decision-making, city governments will be in a better position to fulfill their responsibility to ensure the safety of their residents, especially women and girls.

As a major economic force worldwide, India and Indian companies have the opportunity to set the standards in Asia in terms of women's right to decent work.

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.