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.

Who would have said, 10, 15 years ago — that a woman would be elected president!

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

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...

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...

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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...

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

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.’

Who could have thought 20, ten or five years ago, that Chile would elect a woman to be president!

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...

Given political history in Chile, it seemed to me that there was a critical task of consolidating a democracy and creating healthy civic-military and political-military relationships.

We have to look at how much the coffer holds to calculate the percentage rate by which we can increase it.

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

Chile has done a lot to rid itself of poverty, especially extreme poverty, since the return to democracy. But we still have a ways to go toward greater equity. This country does not have a...

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...

Today is the day of the citizens. It’s their decision. We’re very calm and very optimistic.

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

Having more women in company boards, in senior management, supervisory positions and workers in the formal sector is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do. It’s good for the...

Chile needs to unite behind the goals of reducing poverty and creating more equal opportunities so that everyone can benefit from what the country has to offer.

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

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

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...

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.