Michelle Bachelet
Ms. Bachelet most recently served as the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights. She was the first Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. She was President of Chile from 2014- 2018 and 2006 to 2010. As President, one of her major successes was her decision to save billions of dollars in revenues to spend on pension reform, which guaranteed a programme of social protections for women and children, despite the financial crisis. This included tripling the number of free early child-care centres for low-income families and the completion of some 3,500 child-care centres around the country. Under her leadership, marine protected areas were created, leading to a tenfold increase in marine conservation. She also promoted renewable energies with unprecedented speed, increasing renewable energy production from 6% to 17% of Chile's energy mix in just 4 years.
Ms. Bachelet also held ministerial portfolios in the Chilean Government as Minister of Defence and Minister of Health. As Defence Minister, Ms. Bachelet introduced gender policies intended to improve the conditions of women in the military and police forces. As Minister of Health, she implemented health-care reform, improving attention to primary care facilities with the aim of ensuring better and faster health-care response for families.
Ms. Bachelet holds a medical degree. She also studied military strategy at Chile’s National Academy of Strategy and Policy and at the Inter-American Defense College in the United States.
Born 29 September 1951 in Santiago, Ms. Bachelet has three children.