Chile’s Michelle Bachelet makes it to BBC’s 100 Women 2017 list

Isabel Cocker/The Santiago Times Staff

SANTIAGO/LONDON – The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) has released its 100 Women 2017 list, which names 100 influential and inspirational women across the globe annually, highlighting Michelle Bachelet as the first female President of Chile.

Bachelet is one of 10 South American women to be named, along with one Argentine and 8 Brazilians.

Each year the media company challenges the named women to make progress in areas which still adversely affect females across the world. This year, the women are split into four “teams” which will each tackle one project: #Teamlead, #Teamread, #Teamgo and #Teamplay. These challenges correspond to the problems posed by the glass ceiling, female illiteracy, street harassment and sexism in sport.

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Bachelet has been assigned to #Teamread, with the aim that she will be able to share her experiences of working as the head of U.N. Women, an entity working for the empowerment of women, and as the head of State for Chile. By sharing her experiences and working together with the other inspirational women on the team, the BBC hope that the women will provide innovative solutions to problems which continue to affect women globally.

The women named on the list are drawn from a wide range of backgrounds and sectors. Also from the political sphere are Susi Pudjiastuti, the Indonesian Minister for Maritime affairs, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the President of Liberia and the first female elected head of State in Africa.

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So far, 60 of the 100 women have been named. The other 40 women will be added during October as more and more inspirational women add their ideas and contribute possible solutions for each of the teams.