NEW YORK, 14 September 2010: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the appointment of Ms. Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile, as the head of UN Women.
– Ms. Bachelet brings to this critical position a history of dynamic global leadership, highly honed political skills and uncommon ability to create consensus and focus among UN Agencies and many partners in both the public and private sector, Ban said.
In an historic move, the United Nations General Assembly voted unanimously on 2 July 2010 to create a new entity to accelerate progress in meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide.
The establishment of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women – to be known as UN Women – is a result of four years of negotiations between UN Member States and advocacy by the global women’s movement. It is part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact.
SATSEDE PÅ KVINDER SOM PRÆSIDENT
Ms. Bachelet (58) prioritized women’s issues throughout her tenure (2006-2010) as Chile’s first female president and since leaving office she has worked with UNIFEM (FNs Kvindefond) to advocate for the needs of Haitian women following January’s devastating earthquake.
One of her major successes as President 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.
Ms. Bachelet, too, has 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. She was born 29 September 1951 in Santiago, Ms. Bachelet has three children.
Læs meget mere om hendes spændende liv og karriere på http://www.unwomen.org/about-un-women/under-secretary-general
She was chosen to her new UN-topjob over two other runner-up candidates.
The new entity, which will be operational from January, is set to have an annual budget of at least 500 million US dollar (2,9 milliarder DKR), double the current combined resources of the four agencies it comprises.
Se også om forhistorien på
http://www.u-landsnyt.dk/nyhed/18-08-10/un-women-fns-nye-kvindestyrke
