<p>“Equal rights for men and women are a basic condition for development, as essential in education and access to work as it is in the provision of health services.</p>

<p>Sixty years ago, the founders of the United Nations proclaimed their determination to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, to reaffirm faith in human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.</p>

<p class="bodytext">This World Population Day is an occasion to stress the empowering effect of gender equality, and the fact that respect for this human right benefits everyone -- men, women, boys and girls alike.</p>

<p>It is a pleasure for me to address this Annual Session of the Executive Board, and it is an honour to be leading this dynamic organization, which is at the forefront of positive change.</p>

<p>I have been asked to speak about women's rights and women's health and the power of political leadership.</p>

<p>It is a pleasure to be here with you. And it is also a pleasure to deliver these opening remarks on behalf of all 10 co-sponsoring agencies of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and, in particular, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.</p>

<p class="bodytext">It is always a pleasure to be in Africa and this occasion is no exception.</p>

It gives me tremendous pleasure to be among you on this extraordinary occasion of the Conference of Speakers of National Assemblies on Issues of Population and Development.

<p>Reducing Poverty and Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are international priorities.</p>

One sure way to Make Every Mother and Child Count, as the slogan for World Health Day urges us to do, is to guarantee universal access to reproductive health, as was agreed at the International Conference on Population and Development.

<p>It gives me great pleasure to address the opening of this thirty-eighth session of the Commission on Population and Development.</p>

<p>I am pleased to be your keynote speaker today. I am committed to reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls. And I would like to thank Adrienne Germain, the President of the International Women's Health Coalition, for organizing this important meeting and bringing all of us together.</p>