Argentina In 2007, Dr. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner became the first elected female president of Argentina. Isabel Peron succeeded her husband as president from 1974 to 1976. Fernandez's interest in politics began in the 70s with the Peronist Youth movement. In 1989 she was elected to the Santa Cruz Provincial Legislature and re-elected in 1993. She was a driving force in her husband's successful campaign for the presidency in 2003, the office she went on to win. She is passionate about her causes and unafraid of controversy. In 2010, President Fernandez endorsed the equality in marriage act that became law, making Argentina the first Latin American country to accept the measure. I was struck by her honest and simple belief that democracy means equality for all.AustraliaIn 2010, Julia Gillard became the 27th and first female Prime Minister of Australia. After completing her degree at Melbourne University she joined the law firm of Slater and Gordon and quickly became a partner. Her focus, mainly employment law for workers and fair compensation for home workers in the clothing industry, introduced her to Labor politics. Gillard didn't set out to break any glass ceilings or ruffle feathers, but her status as an atheist and an unmarried woman who lives with her partner (Tim Mathieson) has indeed fluffed some down. Her choice not to have children prompted a discussion about the symbolism of an empty fruit bowl in a photo of Gillard's kitchen, a comment on her not being a 'mum'. One of her colleagues in Parliament called her '"deliberately barren".BangladeshSheikh Hasina was elected Prime Minister of Bangladesh in 2008 after two years of army-backed emergency rule. She took part in the 1969 uprising and the 1971 liberation war for which she and her family were imprisoned by the occupying army of Pakistan. In 1975, while Hasina and her sister were visiting her husband in Europe, her father and eighteen family members were executed by gunmen. She spent six years in exile before returning in 1981 to continue her battle for democracy, battles that often ended in house arrests. She survived an attack in 2004 when grenades exploded at her opposition political rally killing two dozen people. In May of 2011, Sheikh Hasina spoke at the Sixty-fourth World Health Assembly addressing the importance of women's health to the strength and productivity of every nation.BrazilDilma Rousseff never held an elected office before becoming the first woman president of Brazil. Now she leads the fifth largest country in the world with one of the fastest growing economies; a nation preparing to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero. Arrested in her early 20s for opposing a military dictatorship she spent three years enduring imprisonment and torture. Today she balances a reputation for determination and grit and sees eliminating poverty and bringing social equality for all as her primary goals. Rousseff has appoin ted nine women to her cabinet and travels surrounded by female security guards. This year she was 16th on Forbes list of the world's most powerful people.Costa RicaLaura Chinchilla was elected as the first woman President of Costa Rica in 2010. She previously served as Minister of Security, Chairman of the Joint Drug Intelligence Center, and the Academic Council of the National Police Academy working on judicial reform against one of Costa Rica's greatest concerns--drug trafficking-a major problem for a country on the drug trade path from Columbia to the US. Since her election, Chinchilla has been active in promoting Costa Rica in world markets and is a strong advocate for reform. Her opposition to a separation of church and state, and her anti-abortion stance has worried some women leaders as to Chinchilla's attitude toward gender equality. Chinchilla told members at the Council of Women World Leaders that Costa Rica's Congress has 40% female representation, far more than m ost nations.CroatiaJadranka Kosor was appointed Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia in 2009. She had previously held positions as Vice Prime Minister and Minister of the Family, Veterans' Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity, and as Deputy President and Vice-President of the Croatian Democratic Union (Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, HDZ). Before entering politics, Kosor won a number of awards as a newspaper and radio journalist. She took office to a huge deficit and high unemployment and immediately introduced an emergency budget to reduce spending and the national debt. After years of struggling to improve the image of rampant government corruption, Croatia was recently approved to become the 28th member of the European Union and will join the EU in 2013. Jadranka Kosor has published two books on the Homeland War and two poetry books.FinlandTarja Halonen became the first female head of state in the Republic of Finland in 2000 and was re-elected in 2006 to another six-year term. Finland is the first nation to appoint more women than men as government ministers. Halonen served as a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 and was the first woman to become foreign minister. In addition to her political career she had a long career in trade unions and different non-governmental organizations. President Halonen is a Social Democrat who believes that women in a position of power need to support other women until there is equality in governments around the world. Tarja Halonen has built her political career on promoting human rights, social justice and equality. In 2009, Finland became the first country in the world to make access to high speed internet a legal right.GermanyAngela Merkel was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany in 2005 and had a phenomenal 60% approval rate into her 2009 reelection. Her parties concern for her success was not based on the usual merits of male candidates; rather they were afraid because she was too frumpy loo king, divorced, and had no children. The 'frumpy' looking, childless Chancellor managed to pull her nation from its deep recession. Her doctorate is in physics, but at the age of 36 she became involved in the democracy movement and after the Berlin Wall came down took a job in government. In 2010, Forbes listed her sixth on their list of Powerful People, and fourth on their list of Powerful Women. This June, President Obama presented Chancellor Merkel with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.IndiaPratibha Patil was elected India's first woman president in 2007. Trained as a lawyer she became a member of congress in 60s and then spent two decades in Maharashtra's state legislature. In 2004 she was appointed the first woman governor of Rajasthan. She earned a Master's degree in Political Science and Economics and a Bachelor of Laws and has worked tirelessly for the welfare of women and children and the underprivileged. She promoted the Shram Sadhana Trust which supports working women's hostels and a college of engineering and technology for rural youth. She is currently working with all political parties for implementation of the Women Reservation Bill which grants 33 per cent reservation for women in government. Many males oppose the reservation because women are poorly educated-a typical political catch 22-until more women make the laws they will remain uneducated.IcelandJhanna Sigurardttir became the first female Prime Minister of Iceland in 2009. She began her political career as a union organizer while working as a flight attendant and became a member of the Icelandic Parliament in 1978. One of her first notable acts was to refuse the official limo to drive her own vehicle to work. She was Iceland's longest serving minister on committees such as Foreign and Constitutional Affairs and Economy/Trade and Social Affairs. Ultimately, it was Iceland's economic crash in 2008 that forced the resignation of the then Prime Minister Geir Haarde. Sigurard ttir led a group of Social Democrats and Left-Greens who joined forces to form a caretaker minority government. Her election made her the world's first openly gay female head of government. Her personal achievements and political prowess were more important to Icelandic voters than sexual orientation.IrelandMary Patricia McAleese became the second female President of Ireland and the first woman ever to succeed another elected female head of state, Mary Robinson, in 1997. She was re-elected unopposed for a second 7 year term in 2004. McAleese grew up in Northern Ireland before her family was forced to leave during 'The Troubles' (a term used to describe the violence between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland). In the past two decades, Ireland has become one of Europe's wealthiest countries. In May of 2011 Queen Elizabeth II's unprecedented and symbolic trip to Ireland added another plank to the Presidents successful platform of 'Building Bridges'. She told the Quee n "...Your visit is a formal recognition of what has, for many years, been a reality. A lived reality...that Ireland and Britain are neighbours, equals, colleagues and friends."Kosovo In April of 2011, Atifete Jahjaga, a non-partisan candidate, became the 4th President of Kosovo. She is also the first female and at 36, the youngest person to hold the office. Before her election she was the deputy commander of the Kosovo Police. Jahjaga graduated from the University of Pristina Faculty of Law in 2000 and after the Kosovo War began working as an interpreter for the international police. She became an officer and rose through the ranks to General Major. The Republic of Kosovo is in the Balkan Mountains in Southeastern Europe, bordered by Serbia and Albania. In 2008 Kosovo declared independence and is awaiting acceptance approval from the UN. In July, Atifete Jahjaga met with another female world leader, the President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaite, to discuss, among other thi ngs, how Kosovo can benefit from the experience of Lithuania on the path of the European integration process.Kyrgyzstan Rosa Otunbayeva, Central Asia's first female leader, came to power in 2010 after a takeover. The former professor received her education at Moscow State University and went on to serve as foreign minister during Soviet rule and after Kyrgyzstan gained its independence, in which she played a major role. In 2011 she was awarded the International Woman of Courage award by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In Otunbayeva's own words "Nothing can be more moving than to see humans celebrate their freedom....The Almighty provided us with such a powerful sense of dignity that we cannot tolerate the denial of our unalienable rights and freedoms, no matter what real or supposed benefits are provided by "stable" authoritarian regimes. It is the magic of people, young and old, men and women of different religions and political beliefs, who come together in city squ ares and announce that enough is enough."LiberiaBy the time Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who spent over ten years in prison, many years in exile, and nearly faced execution, became the 24th President of Liberia in 2005, the country was devastated. Years of civil war resulted in the deaths of 300,000 and the rape of an estimated 75% of Liberian women. Unemployment stood at 85%. In six years, Johnson-Sirleaf has eliminated the country's external debt and Liberia now has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Unemployment, though still high, is down to 50% while school enrollment has increased 40%-girls constitute a major portion of that number. In 2007, Johnson Sirleaf was awarded the Medal of Freedom by the United States, and in 2010, Newsweek listed her as one of the ten best leaders in the world, and Time named her in the top ten female leaders.LithuaniaIn 2009, Dalia Grybauskaite, an Independent, won the office of President of the Republic of Lithuania with over 68% of the vote. Her campaign stressed the importance of protecting the poor, reducing the bureaucracy, and investigating government spending. In 1988, she received a doctoral degree in economic sciences at the Moscow Academy of Social Studies. In 1991, she was appointed Director of the European Department at the Ministry of International Economic Relations and served in Ministry positions until 2004 when she was appointed EU commissioner for financial programming and budget. There she began reforms to ensure a more practical and efficient distribution of funds. The work earned her the title of Commissioner of the Year. Grybauskaite's lack of links to political parties or special interest groups and her spotless record allowed her to demand accountability from government officials and agencies.Slovakia Iveta Radicova became the first woman Prime Minister of Slovakia in 2010. She holds a Ph.D. in philosophy and was a professor of Sociology at Comenius University in Bratislava. Sh e began her political career in the 1990s as a member of the Public Against Violence movement. Said to be Slovakia's leading female sociologist she was appointed Minister of Labour, Social Affairs, and Families from 2005-2006 and represented the Slovak Democratic Party in Parliament in 2006. Radicova promised to cut state spending rather than establish tax increases to reduce the budget deficit. She believes religion is a private matter, that women should be trusted to make their own decisions about their bodies, and that leaders should focus on the rights of minorities. Another ambitious step was the decision to place contracts related to public finance on the internet before they are enforced.SwitzerlandMicheline Calmy-Rey, head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs was elected President of the Swiss Confederation for 2011. She also held the office in 2007. After earning a degree in Political Science she ran a book-distribution business. In 1979 she joined the Socialist Party of Geneva focused her efforts on public finance. After her election to the Geneva Cantonal Government, she became head of the Department of Finance. Since 2003, she has been head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs where she has made clear her commitment to the promotion of peace, the elimination of poverty, and the continual struggle for global human right. Speaking at the 100th International Labour Conference in June, Calmy-Rey emphasized the urgency for social justice. In July she met with Russian Federation Ministers to discuss cooperation in social development.Trinidad and TobagoKamla Persad-Bissessarm became the seventh Prime Minister of the Caribbean nation Trinidad and Tobago in 2010 and the first woman to hold that position. Former premier Patrick Manning predicted she was not strong enough to govern but Time magazine voted her one of the world's top 10 female leaders. Her priorities are to reduce the large population of Trinidadians living in poverty by 2% per year and to provide citizens with a way to voice their concerns and displeasure without fear. "The most enlightened democracies are those that allow for freedom of expression and the right to self determination." Before her political career, Persad-Bisessarm was a social worker, known for compassion.There you have a brief look at these remarkable women. Learn more about them, or better yet, become involved in change yourself.Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women, and the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance, and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman who's confronted with it. We need equality. Kinda now. Joss Whedonquote
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