Former President Barack Obama declared Monday that women are better leaders than men, musing that the world’s living standards would increase if the fairer sex ran the world.
Speaking in Singapore at a private event on leadership, Obama conceded that while women have their flaws, he argued that they are “indisputably better” than men, the BBC reports.
“Now women, I just want you to know; you are not perfect, but what I can say pretty indisputably is that you’re better than us [men],” the former president said. “I’m absolutely confident that for two years if every nation on earth was run by women, you would see a significant improvement across the board on just about everything… living standards and outcomes.”
Obama went on to argue that older men in power are largely responsible for many of the world’s most pressing problems and urged for a younger generation of leaders to take their place.
“If you look at the world and look at the problems it’s usually old people, usually old men, not getting out of the way,” he stated. “It is important for political leaders to try and remind themselves that you are there to do a job, but you are not there for life, you are not there in order to prop up your own sense of self importance or your own power.”
Obama’s remarks come as he and former first lady Michelle Obama are in southeast Asia to promote women’s education in as part of the Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance program. Last week, Michelle Obama, Hollywood actress Julia Roberts, and former Miss Malaysia Deborah Henry visited a high school in Vietnam, where they spoke to female students about the importance of education and leadership.