Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the press.

I have just had a fruitful conversation with Prime Minister Harper. It is wonderful to be in this beautiful city of Ottawa and in Canada, a long-time leader and supporter and pioneer in many areas of the United Nations' work.

Prime Minister Harper and I covered a full range of issues, including the upcoming G8 and G20 Summits, the Millennium Development Goals, climate change, the situation in Haiti and Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan.

I also had a good meeting with Development Minister Oda and Finance Minister Flaherty.

The upcoming G8 and G20 summit meetings here in Canada provide an opportunity to deliver for the world's poor and most vulnerable people.

Canada must provide leaders of the G20 and G8 can and must a new resolve to meet previous global pledges to the poor.

Leaders of the G20 and G8 can and must:

– galvanize progress on women's and children's health by concretely supporting the Joint Plan of Action we launched in New York last month; I am very encouraged [ – ] by Canada's commitment to push G8 countries towards bold, focused, coordinated action on maternal health and all health MDGs. I can confirm that Prime Minster Harper is very committed to this issue.

– provide full funding for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria -- the highly proven instrument that converts dollars into lives;

– they also should deliver on previous commitments to double aid for Africa, and fund the L'Aquila food security initiative;

– they should also deliver “fast track” climate financing to meet immediate needs in developing countries and maintain negotiating momentum.

I urged Prime Minister Harper to play a vital leadership role in mobilizing G8 and G20 countries on all these issues.

I thank Canada once again for its role as a major supporter of the United Nations' work.

Thank you.