From now on, you will hear the name of Michelle Bachelet often.

Who is Michelle Bachelet?  She is the first Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women which was established on
July 2nd, 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly. Under Ms. Bachelet’s leadership, UN Women will lead, support and coordinate the UN’s work on gender equality and the empowerment of women at the global, regional and country level.

A long time champion of women’s rights, she has been an advocate for gender equality and women empowerment throughout her career.

Ms. Bachelet served as president of

Chile from 2006-2010. One of her major successes as president was her decision, despite a financial crisis in her country, to save billions of dollars to spend on issues such as pension reform, social protection programmes for women and children, and research and development.

Yesterday we heard her speech at CSW/NGO Consultation Day (see previus blog entry from Margaret Cook). We were able to feel her personality and passion through her speech. She is the perfect choice to lead UN Women and I am excited about the direction she will take the new agency in the coming months!

Yoko Komori Olson – SI UN Representative to

New York