General Women, Peace and Security

“Full and equal participation by women is another essential component in building peaceful stable societies. Women are key agents of change and must be full protagonists in our ongoing global story. Political will is a crucial element of driving women's empowerment and gender equality forward.

"Civil conflicts raging on in Syria, Libya and South Sudan are leading to the deaths of untold numbers of innocent women and children."

"We need a new approach to eliminate conflict and violence and reduce inequality within and among nations. Only then, we will be able to ensure healthy lives, empower women and girls, improve quality of education, create jobs and guarantee supply of affordable energy."

"For over 50 years, the embargo has condemned the people of Cuba including innocent children and women into perpetual hardship and poverty."

"Education, particularly for girls, is the 'superhighway' to ending poverty. Poverty, discrimination and the use of force often prevent girls from getting the education they are entitled to. Sexual violence, abductions and deadly attacks are the most despicable ways in which girls' right to education is being violated. I condemn the abductions of schoolgirls by Boko Haram in the strongest possible terms.

"We should always bear in mind that the UN was created with the aim of maintaining international peace and security, thus, fostering the effective protection of the fundamental freedoms and human rights of all people, irrespective of gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief."

“My Government is also entrenching democracy, secularism and women empowerment to ideologically defeat terrorism and extremism.”

“With regard to all forms of extremism that can lead to acts of terrorism, it is important also to address their root causes, to show young people that violence holds out no promise for the future. The establishment in Geneva of the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) is one important step in this direction.

“...we strongly condemn the use of the chemical weapons in Syria, as well as the indiscriminate use of force against the civilian population which has to date produced thousands of innocent victims, including women and children, and caused a serious humanitarian crisis wounding the universal conscience and seriously threatening peace and international security.”

“However, we are unlikely going to meet the other four [Millennium Development] goals, namely: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal access to education; ensuring gender equality and empowerment of women; and improving maternal health. Malawi, will, therefore, be proceeding to the post 2015 development agenda, with unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals.”