Michelle Bachelet, the former president of Chile and the first executive director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (better known as UN Women), gave an address in Liberia on March 8, 2011, to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. The day provides an opportunity annually to honor the achievements of women, promote empowerment, and advocate for gender equality worldwide. In her speech, Bachelet discussed the progress that had been made in the previous 100 years. For example, more women globally have the right to vote, women have been elected to lead governments in every continent, women hold positions of leadership in professions from which they were once banned, two-thirds of countries have laws that penalize domestic violence, and the United Nations Security Council recognizes sexual violence as a deliberate tactic of war. Bachelet also discussed the work that still needed to be done to improve, for example, the high illiteracy rates among women and girls, the low school attendance for girls, the mortality rate of pregnant women and new mothers, and the pay gap between women and men. She stressed that making progress in these areas must be a global effort.