Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the High-level Event on “Every woman, every child”, in New York today:

The urgency of integrating gender equality and women’s empowerment as a stand-alone goal, as well as a cross-cutting element of the post-2015 development agenda, dominated the second day of the fifty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, with some speakers suggesting specific ways of advancing the overarching spirit of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

“As women thrive, so will we all,” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as he opened the fifty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women today, marking two decades of progress that he warned had been “unacceptably slow” in achieving gender equality since the historic adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995.

The Secretary-General spoke at the opening session today of the Commission on the Status of Women, noting that it took place on the twentieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.  He challenged stakeholders to work to achieve gender equality during the time frame set by the new development agenda.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

Speakers stressed the importance of transparency, equal opportunities for vendors, and streamlined processes, among other things, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) examined the United Nations efforts to make its procurement activities more efficient.

The following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the Security Council on cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations (European Union) delivered in New York today:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the opening session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York today:

Describing a deep partnership between the United Nations and the European Union, speakers at the Security Council this morning called for strengthening the relationship further in a range of critical areas.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Stephen O’Brien of the United Kingdom as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.