<p>It is a great honour to join you for the 50th anniversary of CELADE/CEPAL, the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Center. I would like to express our appreciation to the Executive Secretary of CEPAL for his continuous and unfaltering support to CELADE, based on his deep understanding and commitment to demography as an input into development.</p>

<p align="left"> <span class="bodytext"> <strong>UNITED NATIONS, New York</strong> — Today on the International Day of Older Persons, UNFPA joins the worldwide celebration of longevity and acknowledges the contributions of older persons to their families, communities and societies.</span> </p>

<p align="left" class="bodytext">On this International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, I would like to make a special call on Governments, bilateral and multilateral agencies, as well as civil society organizations, to support development policies and programmes, including population and reproductive health programmes that take into account the rights, needs, culture and traditions of indigenous peoples.</p>

<p> <span class="bodytext">UNFPA is focused on the field and results. But most importantly, we are focused on people, particularly women and youth so they can live in freedom from fear and want.</span> </p>

<p align="left">It gives me great pleasure and deep honour to address this historic 60th session of the World Health Assembly with the focus on international health security.</p>

<p>Today as we commemorate the International Day of Families, the focus is on “Families and Persons with Disabilities”.</p>

<p align="left" class="bodytext">Today on the International Day of the Midwife, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, pays tribute to midwives around the world. We join others in voicing our appreciation for the loving care these skilled health workers provide. And we call for urgent action to address the shortage of midwives in many countries.</p>

It is important that we continue to move forward with the collective wisdom that population and development is about people of all ages and supporting them, throughout their life cycle, to improve their lives, reach their full potential and realize their human rights.

<p align="left">One woman dies every minute during pregnancy or childbirth, adding up to more than half a million dead women each year, said UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. “And this is just the tip of the iceberg,” she remarked in her statement for World Health Day, 7 April. “For every woman who dies, there are 20 to 30 others who survive childbirth but suffer debilitating injuries.”</p>

<p align="left">No matter where a girl is born, she should live free of discrimination and violence. Every girl and woman should enjoy equal opportunity and equal rights.</p>

<p align="left" class="bodytext">It is my pleasure to address the opening of this fifty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women, especially in the presence of the Deputy Secretary-General, with whom we senior officials of the United Nations, commit ourselves to work to ensure that all of us are held accountable for our gender goals.</p>

<p align="left" class="bodytext">Today, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, joins people around the world in calling for an end to female genital mutilation or cutting.</p>