The Secretary-General met today in Santiago with Vesna Pusic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Croatia, in the margins of a High-level event on Women in Power and Decision-Making.

He noted with appreciation the increasing number of women Heads of State, Heads of Government and Foreign Ministers around the world, and said that advancing women's participation was among his top priorities.

The Secretary-General emphasized that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) should be designed in a fashion that is both people-centric and climate-friendly, and that the needs and experiences of women and girls - as well as of all marginalized people - should be taken into account.

The Secretary-General and the Foreign Minister also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine and the international community's response to it.