On December 6, 2024,  the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust announced that Former President of Chile, Veronica Michelle Bachelet Jeria will be conferred the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2024 in recognition of her exemplary contributions to human rights, peace, and equality.
- Michelle Bachelet was selected by the International Jury of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, chaired by Shivshankar Menon, former Foreign Secretary and National Security Advisor (NSA).
- She has strongly advocated for gender equality and the rights of the most vulnerable sections of the population globally.
About Veronica Michelle Bachelet Jeria:
i.Michelle Bachelet has served as the President of Chile for two-terms (from 2006-2010 and 2014-2018). She was the 1st female to hold the post of Presidency of Chile.
- During her tenure, she introduced education and tax reforms, and India-Chile signed their 1st Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2006.
ii.She also held key ministerial portfolios in the Chilean Government: she was appointed as Health Minister of the country by then President Ricardo Lagos in 2000 and served till 2002.
- Later, she was appointed as the Defence Minister in 2002, making her the 1st female both in Chile and Latin America to hold such a position..
iii.She became the 1st inaugural Director of United Nations (UN) Women, an organisation dedicated to fighting for the rights of women and girls internationally, from 2010 to 2013.
iv.She has served as the 7th UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022.
v.In 2018, she was appointed Chair of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) of the World Health Organisation (WHO), an alliance of over 1,000 organisations across 192 countries from the sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health communities.
About Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace:
i.It is an annual prestigious award which recognizes the contributions of individuals or organisations for promoting international peace and disarmament.
- The award has been named after former Prime Minister (PM) of India, Indira Gandhi.
ii.The award is given annually since its formation in 1986 by Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.
iii.The recipient of the award receives a monetary award of Rs 25 lakh along with a citation.
iv.The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2023 has been jointly awarded to Argentine-Israeli classical pianist Daniel Barenboim and Palestinian peace activist Ali Abu Awwad.
About Chile:
President- Gabriel Boric
Capital- Santiago
Currency-Â Chilean Peso (CLP)
