New York, NY—On April 28, 2011, Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women and Under-Secretary-General for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, addressed WFPG on the role her agency plays in the political and economic empowerment of women internationally. The luncheon was held at the United Nations and moderated by WFPG President Patricia Ellis.

Launched on February 24th of this year, UN Women is already working hard to improve life for women worldwide. Bachelet outlined the five main goals of UN Women for the audience: encouraging womens economic empowerment, increasing female political participation and leadership, engaging women in peace and post-conflict processes, involving women in national development planning, and ending violence against women and girls. To help achieve these goals, UN Women will build partnerships with other UN agencies such as UNESCO, UNICEF, and UN HABITAT, as well as international NGOs and locally-based womens organizations. Read more

Michelle Bachelet with WFPG Board Members Theresa Loar, Mary Catherine Toker, Susan Rappaport, and WFPG President Patricia Ellis		Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women
Michelle Bachelet and Patricia Ellis during the Q&A session		UNICEF Deputy Director Hilde Johnson and Under-Secretary-General Radhika Coomaraswamy with Patricia Ellis
OAS Ambassador María del Luján Flores (Uruguay), Ambassador Simona Miculescu (Romania), and Baroness Mary Goudie (UK)		Patricia Ellis greets Michelle Bachelet
UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri with Patricia Ellis		Ambassador Dessima Williams (Grenada) and Ambassador Anne Anderson (Ireland)
Pat Mitchell, Warren Hoge, and Gillian Sorensen		Grace Lin Xu, Bridget Liddell, Consul General Koula Sophianou (Cyprus), and Geraldine Kundstadter
Ambassador Marjon Kamara (Liberia)and Madeleine Crohn		Joan Yang and Ambassador Sofia Borges (Timor- Leste)

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