President Bachelet launches “HeForShe” gender equality campaign in Chile
The President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, together with Foreign Affairs Minister Heraldo Muñoz, Sports Minister Natalia Riffo, and National Women’s Service Minister Claudia Pascual, participated in the launch of the “HeForShe” campaign in Chile. “HeFOrShe” is a UN Women initiative which seeks to actively engage men and boys in the fight to end gender inequalities. The launch event was held at the National Stadium in Santiago in the run up to Saturday’s Copa America 2015 final.
The aim of the campaign is to mobilize men and boys to join the “Team of One Million Men” as advocates and agents of change in achieving gender equality and ending violence towards women and girls.
In her speech, President Bachelet highlighted recent Government policies to promote gender equality and inclusion, noting that “progress has been made and we are expecting to have more women in politics and in Congress because when we replaced the binomial system with a new proportional system, we specified that at least 40% of candidates in all future elections for Deputies and Senators must be female. This means that many more women who want to be involved in making decisions in Chile will have the opportunity to take part.”
Addressing the young volunteers who were at the National Stadium for the launch event, President Bachelet noted that “significant cultural differences persist in Chile and although you are young, one day you will be parents and the way boys and girls are raised is very important in ensuring that gender equality becomes a reality.”
Similarly, the President emphasized that achieving gender equality in Chile will happen sooner “if we can change our cultural values; if we can end the prejudices that often mask the way women are seen in our society. It is like a game of soccer, whatever position you play, whether you are a goal scorer, a mid-fielder or a defender, you contribute to the end result, and in this case, the end result is achieving gender equality and equal opportunities in our country.”
President Bachelet urged those present to play their part, explaining that “for this goal to become a reality, we need as many people as possible to support this campaign and create a force that enables us to overturn the prejudices and cultural barriers that limit the options available to women.”
In her closing remarks President Bachelet emphasized that in terms of ending gender inequalities in Chile, “this campaign proposes something that is crucial: creating the Team of One Million Men, a million men who play as a team, score goals and bring us victory on the pitch.”