In 2006 I was granted the great honour of being the first woman to be elected President of Chile. I remember the day I took office: hundreds of thousands of women took to the streets wearing a presidential sash, symbolizing that political power, up to now almost exclusively in the hands of men, was now shared by all. One of my main objectives on coming to office was to stop placing 'women's issues' as a subfield of public policy. In all we have done as a government, in education, pre-school care, health, housing, domestic violence, and certainly in our historic pension system reform, we have incorporated a gender sensitive approach across the board, adopting specific measures that benefit women. In so doing, women's policy has become transversal, and part of a larger goal; the struggle for greater equality.

Moreover, we have worked for a greater inclusion overall. We need more women in politics, more women in business, more women participating in social organizations, and more women in the labour force. To that end we have worked consistently and made sustained progress. This has not been easy, but we have not let that stop us. I am confident that, in the end, we will have induced a great cultural shift, which will translate into more justice and greater welfare for the citizens of Chile.