Ban Ki moon, UN Secretary General :
(From previous issue)
Transformation is our goal. I can think of no better place to start than with opening doors and shattering ceilings for women and girls. Stereotypes continue to be deeply entrenched. Look at any crisis – from poverty to disaster to disease to illiteracy – and you will see women and girls suffering the most. We cannot fulfil 100 per cent of the world’s potential by excluding 50 per cent of the world’s people.
Climate action is integral to all our hopes. Three days ago in the streets of our host city, New York, I joined hundreds of thousands of people in marching for a cleaner, greener future. They sent a powerful message to the leaders – of their impatience but also of opportunity.
Yesterday’s Climate Summit was a landmark event. We saw a great coming together of countries, capital, CEOs and citizens. Multi-stakeholder coalitions took unprecedented action to reduce emissions, build resilience, and finance the transformation of our economies and societies. We must convert this momentum into a meaningful, universal climate agreement in Lima this December and in Paris next year. As one of the banners in the march said, we have a duty to “do what must be done”. Funding is crucial for the credibility of the climate and post-2015 development efforts. Now is the time to more properly match global wealth with global need. All resources, public and private, domestic and international, need to be tapped. When budgets are cut to the bone, people bleed. When resources are devoted to ever more sophisticated arms instead of ever greater human potential, we are all less secure.
Leadership is also about getting our priorities straight, our policies right, and our investments working for people. The next 15 months will be a defining period for global prosperity and stability. I urge you to keep your ambitions high.
The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa is an unprecedented crisis. That is why I have established an unprecedented health operation – the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response – to mobilize all the resources needed to reinforce the work being done by the countries and communities affected.
(To be continued)
