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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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 neoliberal economic model anymore. We have put in place a lot of policies that will ensure that economic growth goes hand in hand with social justice.

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