The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, praised Michelle Bachelet on Friday as having been a "formidable figure" both during her term as president of Chile and during her role as the first leader of UN Women. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who had nominated her, told reporters after Assembly's approval by acclamation: "At home she has known the heights and depths as the first woman to serve as the President and also as a survivor of brutality by authorities targeting her and her family." Bachelet, who was appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, will take over from Jordan's Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein, who is stepping down as the UN high commissioner for human rights at the end of the month after a four-year term. Bachelet, who finished a second term as president on Chile in March, had been detained by the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in 1973 and tortured while her father died in custody after torture by the military junta. Guterres and delegates who spoke at the Assembly session noted that between her two presidential terms, Bachelet served as the founding executive director of UN Women, the office for promoting gender equality and women's empowerment. The United States withdrew in June from the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, which is separate from the High Commissioner for Human Rights office but works closely with it, over what it called chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform.
The United Nations General Assembly confirms Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile, to succeed Zeid Raad Al Hussein as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The decision to appoint her for a four-year term, starting September 1, was made by consensus after her nomination by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.