Meet the Planet's 16 Women World Leaders
Earlier this year, PINK published the names of 13 female presidents and prime ministers worldwide. It's only June, and now there are 16!
Close, but no cigar. The U.S. will have to wait at least four more years for another shot at electing a woman as president. Meanwhile, many of our world neighbors are way ahead in the game. Already in 2009, Iceland and Bangladesh have elected women heads of state. Icing on the diversity cake? Iceland's first female prime minister is also openly gay. Now, of 195 nations, 16 are run by women. Abysmal, yes. But the next tier is much more promising. As of February 2009, 31 countries had woman vice presidents or deputy prime ministers.
When it comes to women in politics, Irene Natividad, president of the Global Summit of Women, says the U.S. has a lot to learn from Spain and (hold on to your hats, ladies) Rwanda. Spain, led by a male president and female vice president, has reached gender equity through policy – requiring that women make up 50 percent of its cabinet and 50 percent of all company boards. Rwanda, which has the highest percentage of women in parliament, "found equity through sheer need for survival," Natividad says. In the genocide-ravaged country, the government and economy are depending on women survivors to rebuild the country. "Now little boys in Rwanda will grow up with a different respect for their mothers, sisters and daughters – and the attitude toward women leaders will change," she says.
But don't pack up and head east just yet. "Things can be changed," Natividad says. How? First, make a statement with your vote. "When all other things, like experience and values, are equal, opt for the woman." Ultimately, it comes down to personal responsibility. "Women must take the banner for change themselves instead of just saying 'It's not fair,'" she says.
MICHELLE BACHELET
PRESIDENT OF CHILE SINCE 2006
Socially conservative, primarily Catholic Chile chose a surprising leader in Bachelet, an atheist single mother and the nation's first woman president.
LUISA DIOGO
PRIME MINISTER OF MOZAMBIQUE SINCE 2004
Diogo, Mozambique's first woman head of government, previously served as minister of planning and finance.
CRISTINA E. FERNÁNDEZ DE KIRCHNER
PRESIDENT OF ARGENTINA SINCE 2007
The second woman president of Argentina (though the first to be elected), this former senator and first lady became the first to succeed her husband as a president.
ZINAIDA GRECIANÎI
PRIME MINISTER OF MOLDOVA SINCE 2008
Formerly Moldova's minister of finances, Grecianîi is the nation's first woman prime minister.
TARJA KAARINA HALONEN
PRESIDENT OF FINLAND SINCE 2000
Finland's first woman head of state, Halonen has been a major player in Finnish politics since 1974, serving on many parliamentary boards and holding four ministry positions.
SHEIKH HASINA WAZED
PRIME MINISTER OF BANGLADESH SINCE JANUARY 2009
President of the Awami League, a major political party in Bangladesh, since 1981, this daughter of the founding father and first president of Bangladesh has once before been prime minister, from 1996 to 2001.
ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF
PRESIDENT OF LIBERIA SINCE 2006
Liberia's first democratically elected president, Johnson-Sirleaf – a Harvard educated economist and former World Bank official – is also its first woman head of state.
BORJANA KRISTO
PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERATION OF BOSNIA SINCE 2007
Kristo, a lawyer, is the first woman vice president in her region. She was formerly minister of justice and vice president of the parliament.
GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO
PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES SINCE 2001
The daughter of a former president, Macapagal-Arroyo served as vice president before becoming the second female president.
MARY MCALEESE
PRESIDENT OF IRELAND SINCE 1997
When McAleese took office, she became Ireland's second female president and the first woman in world history to succeed another woman as an elected head of state.
ANGELA MERKEL
CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY SINCE 2005
Merkel, who has a doctorate in physics, is the first woman to lead Germany since it became a modern nation-state in 1871.
PRATIBHA PATIL
PRESIDENT OF INDIA SINCE 2007
Serving in a number of ministry positions before becoming India's first woman president, Patil was most recently the first woman governor of Rajasthan.
MICHELE PIERRE-LOUIS
PRIME MINISTER OF HAITI SINCE 2008
Pierre-Louis, an economist, became Haiti's second woman prime minister in 2008. She previously headed a foundation providing libraries, youth education and women's networks.
ROSE FRANCINE ROGOMBE
INTERIM PRESIDEN OF GABON SINCE 2009
Rogombé, a Gabonese politician, currently holds the seat after President Omar Bongo's death in June 2009. This term makes her the first female head of state in Gabon.
JÓHANNA SIGURÕADÓTTIR
PRIME MINISTER OF ICELAND SINCE FEBRUARY 2009
Iceland's first female prime minister – and the world' first openly gay leader – was the country's minister of social affairs until February, when she was selected to replace former Prime Minister, Geir Haarde, who stepped down due to cancer, until new elections can take place.
YULIA TYMOSHENKO
PRIME MINISTER OF UKRAINE SINCE 2006
Tymoshenko, a trained economist and formerly a businesswoman in the gas industry, is Ukraine's first female prime minister.
"Now little boys in Rwanda will grow up with a different respect for their mothers, sisters and daughters – and the attitude toward women leaders will change."
Irene Natividad, president, Global Summit of Women
