Gender equality will only be reached if we are able to empower

“Gender equality will only be reached if we are able to empower women.” These words of Michelle Bachelet, the former President of Chile and the first Executive Director of UN Women, are both a call to action and a reminder of eternal wisdom. They speak to the heart of civilization’s journey — that no nation, no family, no future can rise upon the strength of half its people while the other half remains bound. Her voice carries the conviction of one who has lived the struggle, who has seen with her own eyes how societies weaken when they silence the wisdom of their women, and how they flourish when that wisdom is set free.

The origin of Bachelet’s insight lies in both history and experience. Born under oppression and later leading a nation scarred by dictatorship, she understood that empowerment is not merely the lifting of a hand, but the awakening of potential. To empower women means more than granting rights on paper; it means giving them voice, choice, and power in every sphere of life — political, economic, and spiritual. For equality cannot be bestowed from above like a gift; it must rise from within, through the confidence and opportunity of those once denied it.

The ancients, too, knew the peril of imbalance. When one force dominates another, harmony dissolves. The Greeks called it dike, the divine justice that maintained cosmic order. In every civilization that ignored the equilibrium between masculine and feminine, decline followed. The fall of empires, the corruption of power, the suffering of generations — all were born from inequality that stripped half of humanity of its rightful place. Bachelet’s words are the modern echo of that ancient truth: that no society can be just while women remain powerless.

Consider the story of Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist who founded the Green Belt Movement. With little more than determination, she rallied thousands of women to plant trees, to heal both the earth and their own dignity. Through empowerment, they restored not only the forests but their place in society. Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize, but her victory was shared by every woman she inspired — women who learned that their strength was not given, but awakened. This is what Bachelet means: that equality is not a law to be declared, but a flame to be kindled in every heart.

The empowerment of women is not a matter of fairness alone — it is a matter of progress, of survival, of wisdom. Where women lead, peace endures longer. Where women are educated, poverty diminishes. Where women have voice, corruption falters. The empowerment of women is the strengthening of humanity itself. Bachelet’s truth is not political; it is elemental. The balance between men and women is as vital as the balance between day and night — for without both, the world would remain in shadow.

Yet empowerment must be more than a slogan. It must begin in the home, where daughters are taught to dream, and sons are taught to respect those dreams. It must extend into the schools, the workplaces, and the parliaments where decisions shape destinies. True empowerment demands courage — the courage to challenge tradition, to question silence, to walk paths unwalked. It demands that men, too, see equality not as loss, but as liberation — for in freeing women, we free ourselves from the chains of ignorance and fear.

So, let these words of Michelle Bachelet be carried forward as a guiding light: “Gender equality will only be reached if we are able to empower women.” Let them remind every generation that equality is not a destination but a continual act of creation. Empower one woman, and you empower a family; empower a generation of women, and you transform the world. Therefore, let each of us — men and women alike — become builders of that better order, where justice is shared, voices are heard, and power flows not from domination but from unity. For when women rise, humanity itself rises with them, and the world at last begins to resemble the greatness it was always meant to achieve.