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. – Michelle Bachelet
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. – Michelle Bachelet
I was not born in a home where there were stereotypes. So that was very useful because it gave me the sense of possibilities, of flying, if I may say, of making my hopes and dreams a reality. – Michelle Bachelet
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. – Michelle Bachelet
There’s full consensus in the military that women shouldn’t be in person-to-person combat. I don’t know if we have enough experience to know whether this is the right approach. But women can be elsewhere. We have mandatory military service in Chile. I pushed for women in all areas. – Michelle Bachelet
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. – Michelle Bachelet
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. – Michelle Bachelet
I wouldn’t be honest if I told you that in some moment of my life I had a lot of rage – probably hate – I’m not sure of hate, but rage. But you know what happens is that then you realize you cannot do to others what you think nobody has to do to anybody. Life is important for me and not any kind of life, quality too of life. – Michelle Bachelet
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. – Michelle Bachelet
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. – Michelle Bachelet
There does not have to be trade-off between growth and social protection. A democracy does not mean much if it doesn’t respond to the needs and will of its people. – Michelle Bachelet
You have to be doing things that matter – responsibility, but also responsibility with epic and beautiful and noble tasks. – Michelle Bachelet
The respect for human rights is nowadays not so much a matter of having international standards, but rather questions of compliance with those standards. – Michelle Bachelet
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. – Michelle Bachelet
Violence ravaged my life. I was a victim of hatred, and I have dedicated my life to reversing that hatred. – Michelle Bachelet
One of the factors a country’s economy depends on is human capital. If you don’t provide women with adequate access to healthcare, education and employment, you lose at least half of your potential. So, gender equality and women’s empowerment bring huge economic benefits. – Michelle Bachelet
Women say that my election represents a cultural break with the past – a past of sexism, of misogyny. – Michelle Bachelet
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. – Michelle Bachelet
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. – Michelle Bachelet
The United Nations should become a proactive agent in the dissemination of democratic principles. – Michelle Bachelet
During my lifetime, I realized that discrimination was not accidental, that there were structural roots and causes to it. So if we wanted to change women’s lives, we need to deal with those root causes. – Michelle Bachelet
Violence against women in all its forms is a human rights violation. It’s not something that any culture, religion or tradition propagates. – Michelle Bachelet
The 2010 global gender gap report by the World Economic Forum shows that countries with better gender equality have faster-growing, more competitive economies. – Michelle Bachelet
We have had scarce investment in women… One of my tasks is that everyone spends much more on women. – Michelle Bachelet
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. – Michelle Bachelet
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. – Michelle Bachelet
There has been a cultural shift. It is difficult to measure all that right now, but Chilean women have seen my presidency as a source of pride. Women are performing in jobs in Chile now that 20 or 30 years ago nobody would have dared to imagine. – Michelle Bachelet
