Emphasizing that the empowerment of women is vital to achieving peace and security, improved living standards, and respect for human rights, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underscored the need to support the work of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).“Today, we understand, even better than our founders did, that the empowerment of women is a fundamental condition if we are to make progress towards the goals for which the United Nations was created,” Ban said at a UNFPA event Tuesday night.The secretary-general noted that too many women die during childbirth because their right to sexual and reproductive health is denied; too many women become infected with HIV because they do not have the power to protect their own health; and too many women are subjected to violence, “one of the most systematic and prevalent human-rights abuses in the world.”Ban encouraged support for the UNFPA, saying that by doing so, people are “contributing directly to the health and dignity of women in nations all over the world.”
