2 December 2016 - Noting that the number of children engaged in the worst forms of child labour has decreased and frameworks to tackle contemporary slavery and trafficking have expanded, senior United Nations officials, including the Secretary-General and the head of the UN labour agency, today called for concerted action to save those who remain trapped in extreme exploitation, abuse and violence, including sexual and gender-based violence.

18 November 2016 - To mark the 2016 edition of World Toilet Day, along with urging action to tackle the oft-neglected global sanitation crisis, the United Nations is also spotlighting the impact of sanitation -or lack of it -on livelihoods and work environments.

20 September 2016 – Highlighting the challenges confronting the global community, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today opened the 71st annual debate of the UN General Assembly with a call on world leaders to recognize that the important positions they hold are a reflection of the trust the people have in them and not personal property.

Solar Sister is demonstrating the importance of women-led innovation in supporting the Sustainable Energy for All objectives related to universal energy access and renewable energy. Solar Sister has created a path for 2,000 women in Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria to become active and knowledgeable participants in a sustainable, market-based clean energy distribution network, bringing clean energy access to over a quarter of a million people.

The United Nations provides us with a standard of values and norms, together with the tools to implement them. It has advanced resoundingly from a State-centred system of traditional international law, based on the pre-eminence of State sovereignty, into a norm-based institution. Its goals are clear: while respecting the freedom of sovereign States, it is also dedicated to protecting and promoting peace, security, development, rule of law and human rights for the people of the world.

In this 70th anniversary year, the United Nations must show itself to be mature and responsible enough to make bold reforms that can secure its long-term effectiveness. It must also exhibit humility and engage with ordinary citizens in its Member States, listen to their views, recognize their respective contributions to development, and show that it is relevant to their lives, and to the lives and prospects of their children.

The work of the United Nations impacts people around the world on issues related to peace and security, development and human rights; from disarmament to efforts to combat terrorism and extremism; from conflict prevention to peacekeeping and peacebuilding; from disease prevention to the promotion of gender equality and universal education; from refugee resettlement to humanitarian assistance; from the rule of law to the fight against transnational crime. ... As we mark 70 years of existence, we have every reason to celebrate all that our community of nations has achieved. In doing so, we should also look to the future and strive to transform the United Nations to ensure that it remains effective and relevant in a dynamic and globalized new world.

I am confident that the United Nations, our United Nations, will continue to lead in innovation so that we reach the aim of the Charter for life in larger freedom.

Forty years with the United Nations taught me many lessons, but one remains foremost in my mind, that healthy and sustainable societies are based on three pillars: peace and security, sustainable development, the rule of law and respect for human rights. There can be no long-term security without development; there can be no long-term development without security; and no society can long remain prosperous without the rule of law and respect for human rights.