New York
UN
Deputy Secretary-General's remarks at 14th Rafael Salas Memorial Lecture [as prepared for delivery]
Statements | Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General
Statements | Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General
President Bachelet
Dr. Natalia Kanem,
Ambassador Salas,
Distinguished Guests,
Colleagues and Friends,
On behalf of Secretary-General António Guterres, it is my pleasure to welcome you to today’s Rafael M. Salas Memorial Lecture.
This lecture series is a fitting memorial to the first Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund.
Rafael M. Salas guided UNFPA though its first two decades of existence. He was a pioneer who not only shaped UNFPA, but also a deeper understanding of population and development.
This understanding took root through the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development.
Twenty-four years ago in Cairo, leaders from around the world came together to transform our approach to population and development at every level.
They recognized population and development as a way to fulfil the sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights of all people, and to ensure the centrality of health and rights to sustainable development.
This Programme of Action has led to improved health and better lives for many around the world, particularly women and girls.
We also see the Programme of Action reflected in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which fittingly highlights the intersection between better health and well-being and gender equality and women’s empowerment to achieve more prosperous, sustainable, inclusive and resilient societies.
And we see it in the topic of this year’s Salas Lecture: the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030) for Every Woman Every Child.
As a flagship Secretary-General-led initiative, Every Women Every Child is a catalytic multi-stakeholder platform that places women, children and adolescents at the center of the development agenda to deliver on the promises of the SDGs – particularly their ambition to leave no one behind.
I was very pleased to play a part in the development and launching of this robust strategy during the SDG Summit in 2015. Its three objectives – survive, thrive and transform – underpin the SDGs and are a profound expression of the ambition of the Programme of Action.
The Global Strategy also provides a roadmap for country-level implementation of the SDGs, through the lens of women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being. It recognizes that people do not live in silos and health does not exist in a vacuum, calling for greater collaboration across sectors.
A global champion for women and girls, today’s speaker, Her Excellency Ms. Michelle Bachelet, is helping us to do just that.
As Co-Chair of the High-Level Steering Group for Every Woman Every Child, President Bachelet launched Every Woman Every Child Latin America and the Caribbean, the first platform for tailored, regional implementation of the Global Strategy.
As president of Chile, President Bachelet worked tirelessly to further women’s rights in Chile. She passed protections for victims of domestic violence, fought workplace discrimination, reformed the pension system to be fairer to women, gave low-income mothers better access to childcare and introduced universal access to emergency contraception.
After a short break from politics – albeit to serve as the first Executive Director of UN Women – President Bachelet returned to office. During her second term, she created the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality and passed legislation to improve women’s participation in politics. And in 2017, the Constitutional Court of Chile ruled in favor of a reproductive rights bill introduced by President Bachelet.
Along the way, she has broken many glass ceilings herself, having been the first woman to serve as Minister of Defense in the Americas and the first female President of Chile.
Madame President, welcome back. Welcome home. I thank you and look forward to an engaging and stimulating Rafael M. Salas Memorial Lecture.
Dr. Natalia Kanem,
Ambassador Salas,
Distinguished Guests,
Colleagues and Friends,
On behalf of Secretary-General António Guterres, it is my pleasure to welcome you to today’s Rafael M. Salas Memorial Lecture.
This lecture series is a fitting memorial to the first Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund.
Rafael M. Salas guided UNFPA though its first two decades of existence. He was a pioneer who not only shaped UNFPA, but also a deeper understanding of population and development.
This understanding took root through the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development.
Twenty-four years ago in Cairo, leaders from around the world came together to transform our approach to population and development at every level.
They recognized population and development as a way to fulfil the sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights of all people, and to ensure the centrality of health and rights to sustainable development.
This Programme of Action has led to improved health and better lives for many around the world, particularly women and girls.
We also see the Programme of Action reflected in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which fittingly highlights the intersection between better health and well-being and gender equality and women’s empowerment to achieve more prosperous, sustainable, inclusive and resilient societies.
And we see it in the topic of this year’s Salas Lecture: the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030) for Every Woman Every Child.
As a flagship Secretary-General-led initiative, Every Women Every Child is a catalytic multi-stakeholder platform that places women, children and adolescents at the center of the development agenda to deliver on the promises of the SDGs – particularly their ambition to leave no one behind.
I was very pleased to play a part in the development and launching of this robust strategy during the SDG Summit in 2015. Its three objectives – survive, thrive and transform – underpin the SDGs and are a profound expression of the ambition of the Programme of Action.
The Global Strategy also provides a roadmap for country-level implementation of the SDGs, through the lens of women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being. It recognizes that people do not live in silos and health does not exist in a vacuum, calling for greater collaboration across sectors.
A global champion for women and girls, today’s speaker, Her Excellency Ms. Michelle Bachelet, is helping us to do just that.
As Co-Chair of the High-Level Steering Group for Every Woman Every Child, President Bachelet launched Every Woman Every Child Latin America and the Caribbean, the first platform for tailored, regional implementation of the Global Strategy.
As president of Chile, President Bachelet worked tirelessly to further women’s rights in Chile. She passed protections for victims of domestic violence, fought workplace discrimination, reformed the pension system to be fairer to women, gave low-income mothers better access to childcare and introduced universal access to emergency contraception.
After a short break from politics – albeit to serve as the first Executive Director of UN Women – President Bachelet returned to office. During her second term, she created the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality and passed legislation to improve women’s participation in politics. And in 2017, the Constitutional Court of Chile ruled in favor of a reproductive rights bill introduced by President Bachelet.
Along the way, she has broken many glass ceilings herself, having been the first woman to serve as Minister of Defense in the Americas and the first female President of Chile.
Madame President, welcome back. Welcome home. I thank you and look forward to an engaging and stimulating Rafael M. Salas Memorial Lecture.