Toronto

30 May 2014

Opening remarks at press conference with Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, and Jakaya Kikwete, President of Tanzania

Ban Ki-moon

It is a pleasure to be here as Secretary-General of the United Nations, to participate in this very important initiative on Every Woman Every Child. I would like to express my sincere and deepest admiration for your leadership, Mr. Prime Minister, and also President Kikwete. Both have shown great leadership in promoting the health and well-being of the world’s women and girls.

In a world of great knowledge and wealth, no child should die from preventable illness, and no mother should lose her life while giving birth. Yet too many women and girls are being left behind.

We are here together today to send a strong message to the world: There is no better investment in the world’s future peace and prosperity than the health of women and children. With simple, low-cost interventions, we can save millions of lives and advance development by leaps and bounds.

It is crucial for governments to continue to fight for key goals after 2015, and I thank again the Government of Canada under the leadership of Prime Minister Harper for announcing a new commitment of $3.5 billion for maternal and child health.

In recent days we have also seen other tragic incidents in which women have been the targets of appalling violence – from Pakistan to India to California and Nigeria.

The world will never find true peace and prosperity if half the population face discrimination and exploitation. The United Nations is strongly committed to equal rights and the empowerment of women and girls everywhere.

I would like to thank again Prime Minister Harper and President Kikwete for their commitment to this effort. As co-chairs of the Commission on Information and Accountability for women’s and children’s health, they helped ensure that our strategies and partnerships produce tangible and measureable results. Accountability will be an important part of the new development agenda, and the insights of the Commission can help advance the current deliberations of Member States of the United Nations.

As we accelerate our work to meet the target of the Millennium Development Goals and shape a new development vision for the post-2015 period and strive to adopt a new global agreement on climate change, the role and needs of women must be at the front and centre.

Thank you very much.