Michelle
Bachelet
President of Chile since 2006
Age: 55
Education: A trained
pediatrician and public health specialist who also holds
degrees in military science.
Political career: In
1994 she became Senior Assistant to the Deputy Health Minister
and a year later was named to the Socialist Party Central
Committee. From 1998 to 2000 she was Senior Assistant to
the Defense Minister and became a member of the Socialist
Party Executive Committee. President Ricardo Lagos appointed
her as Health Minister in 2000, and in 2002 she became
the first woman in Chilean and Latin American history to
hold the Defense portfolio.
Micheline Calmy-Rey
President of Switzerland since 2006
Age: 62
Education: A degree in
political science from the Institut de hautes etudes
internationals (Graduate Institute of International
Studies).
Political Career: In
2002, Calmy-Rey became the fourth woman in history
elected to the Swiss Federal Council. Upon her election,
she headed the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
In 2006 she served as vice-president and a year later
was elected president. Calmy-Rey is a member of the
Social Democratic Party.
Helen Clark
Prime Minister of New Zealand since 1999
Age: 57
Education: Helen
Clark's MA and PhD thesis research was on rural political behaviour
and representation. She then lectured in political studies
at Auckland from 1977 until her election to Parliament in 1981.
Political Career: Helen
Clark joined the Labour Party in 1971 and in 1975 stood
for election to Parliament. Between 1984 and 1987 -
a time when New Zealand declared itslef nuclear free
- Clark was chair of the foreign affairs and defense
select committee. In 1986, the Danish Peace Foundation
awarded her their annual Peace Prize for her work in
promoting peace and disarmament. Clark was elected
to Cabinet in 1987, where she held various positions
as Minister of Conservation, Housing, Labour and Health.
Elected to lead the Labour Party in 1993, Clark first
became prime minister in 1999, and won a second term
at the 2002 general election.
Luisa Dias Diogo
Prime Minister of Mozambique since 2004
Age: 49
Education: Diogo gained
a bachelor's degree in economics and went on to obtain a master's degree in
financial economics at the University of London.
Political Career: In
1980, Diogo began working in Mozambique's Finance Ministry. She became
department head in 1986 and in 1989 became the National Budget Director.
She then worked for the World Bank as a program officer in Mozambique,
and in 1995 she joined the FRELIMO government as Deputy Finance Minister.
In 2004, she replaced Pascoal Mocumbi, who had been prime minister
for the previous nine years, making Diogo the first woman to lead Mozambique.
Tarja Halonen
President of Finland since 2000
Age: 63
Education: A Masters of Law.
Political Career: Halonen joined the Social Democratic party
in 1971, yet her political career didn't take off until 1974, when she
was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister. Prior to being
elected president, she served in three cabinet positions as Minister at the
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health; Minister of Justice;and Minister of
Foreign Affairs. According to her official biography, social justice and promotion
of equality have been the central themes of Halonen's political career.
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Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
President of Liberia since 2005
Age: 68
Education: Johnson-Sirleaf received a
Bsc in Accounting at Madison Business College in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1964;
an economics diploma from the University of Colorado in 1970; and a Master of
Public Administration from Harvard University in 1971.
Political Career: Returning
to Liberia after Harvard, Johnson-Sirleaf became Assistant Minister
of Finance in President William Tolbert’s administration. In
1980, after Tolbert was overthrown and killed by army sergeant Samuel
Doe, Johnson-Sirleaf went into exile in Nairobi, Kenya. She returned
to Liberia and ran for Senate in 1985, yet soon after speaking out
against Doe's military regime, was sentenced to ten years in prison.
Shortly after, she was released and moved to Washington, D.C. Johnson-Sirleaf
returned to Liberia again in 1997, this time to work as an economist
for the World Bank. Politically, she was an initial supporter of Charles
Taylor's rebellion against President Samuel Doe in 1990, yet later
went on to oppose him. She campaigned for the removal of President
Taylor from office, playing an active role in Liberia's elections in
2005. After Taylor's departure, she took over the leadership of the
Unity Party and became president.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President of the Phillipines since 2001
Age: 60
Education: Holds a master's
degree in economics from Ateneo de Manila University, and a Ph.D. in economics
from the University of the Philippines.
Political Career: Macapagal-Arroyo is the country's second female
president and the daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal. Prior to
becoming president, Macapagal-Arroyo served as former President Corazon Aquino's
Undersecretary of Trade and Industry. She was elected senator in 1992 and in
1998 was elected Vice-President. In 2001, Macapagal-Arroyo was launched into
presidency when street demonstrations forced Joseph Estrada, who faced serious
corruption allegations, from office.
Mary McAleese
President of Ireland since 1997
Age: 56
Education: Prior to becoming president, McAleese
was a barrister, journalist and a professor of criminal law.
Political Career: McAleese is Ireland's second female
president and the world's first woman to succeed another woman as head of state.
She was first elected president in 1997 and was re-elected, without contest,
to another seven year term in 2004. As the first Northerner to become president
of Ireland, McAleese has worked relentlessly for most of her political career
towards a peace settlement in Northern Ireland.
Angela Merkel
Federal Chancellor of
Germany since 2005
Age: 53
Education: Merkel
trained as a physicist and worked as a quantum chemistry researcher at East
Berlin's Academy of Sciences.
Political Career: Involved in the 1989 democracy movement, Merkel
joined the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and was elected to
parliament in 1990. She served as Minister for Youth and Women from 1991 to
1994; and as Minister of the Environment from 1994 to 1998. Merkel became the
party leader of the CDU in 2000. In the 2005 elections the CDU achieved a narrow
victory over the Social Democrats (a coalition government between the two parties
was created), and Merkel became chancellor. Historically, she is the first
woman and the first Eastern German to gain this position. She has topped the
list of Forbes magazine's 100 most powerful women for the second year in a
row. Health care reforms and future energy developments have been the major
issues of her career.
Pratibha Patil
President of India since 2007
Age: 73
Education: Educated
and trained as a lawyer and social worker.
Political Career: Pratibha Patil began her political career in 1962
at the age of 27. A lawyer by training, she joined Congress in the early 1960s.
She spent two decades in Maharashtra's state legislature. Next she moved into
national politics, sitting in both the lower and upper chambers of India's
national parliament before leaving politics in the late 1990s. Her appointment
as governor of Rajasthan in 2004 gave her the status of becoming the first
woman governor in the north-western state. She went on to win the presidential
election held on July 19, 2007, amid much debate and controversy.
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