I was a woman, a divorcee, a socialist, an agnostic . . . all possible sins together.

As more and more women, men and young people raise their voices and become active in local government, and more local leaders take action for the safety of women and girls, change happens.

People see I am a mother and head of a household. Today in Chile, one-third of households are run by women. They wake up, take the children to school, go to work. To them I am hope.

For me, a better democracy is a democracy where women do not only have the right to vote and to elect but to be elected.

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

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

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