Chile has taken an enormous step in creating a country by everyone and for everyone. My commitment is we will work in every possible way without rest very close to all of you.

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

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...

The presence of progressive governments can facilitate the coordination of policies among some of them, but as president, I will work with all regional democratic leaders.

It isn’t that women are less ambitious, but women want to find a balance between work, love, and family.

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...

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...

I want there to be more jobs, and I will not commit to a million jobs because we have already created 150 thousand new jobs this past year.

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.

People see I am a mother and head of a household. Today in Chile, one-third of households are run by women. They wake up, take the children to school, go to work. To them I...

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

Violence against women in all its forms is a human rights violation. It’s not something that any culture, religion or tradition propagates.

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...

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

This Cabinet is a historic step for equality between men and women. These are people with considerable intellectual, professional and political prestige (who are) up to the great challenges we have ahead.

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

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...

We will continue to do well what we have been doing well, maintaining a stable economy.

You have to be doing things that matter – responsibility, but also responsibility with epic and beautiful and noble tasks.

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.

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.

In this welcome meeting we expressed our willingness to work together on a bilateral agenda.

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.

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.

What is important is that we guarantee decent and dignified work to all Chileans ‘¦ what is important is that everybody has the same rights and the same opportunities.

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.

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...

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

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...

I believe that if you want to fight inequality you have to do it starting at infancy.

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,...

I am a woman, a socialist, separated and agnostic – all the sins together.

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 the old joke goes, I have all the sins together. I am a woman, a Socialist, separated and agnostic.

In today’s interdependent world, a threat to one becomes a menace to all. And no state can defeat these challenges and threats alone.

The world would be better off with more people like you.

I am a woman with a calling for social struggle and public service.

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’ –...

Today, men and women are valued the same.

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...

I don’t like stereotypes – no kind of stereotypes.

The United Nations should become a proactive agent in the dissemination of democratic principles.

Who would have thought 20, 10, five years ago, that Chile would elect a woman president? … Thank you for inviting me to lead this voyage.

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.

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.

Today we have won, the people have given me the first majority. Not even all the money of the candidate of the right can break the will of the majority on the night of January...

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...

My commitment will be to travel with you on yet another stretch of this great promenade of freedom we have been opening.

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

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