SG Messages 

On the 28th of March, the world will observe Earth Hour.

Millions of people, in hundreds of cities, will turn off their lights for an hour.

Earth Hour is a way for the citizens of the world to send a clear message.  They want action on climate change.

One year ago, I launched a campaign calling on people and governments the world over to unite to end violence against women and girls.  The campaign will run through 2015, the target date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.  The link with the Goals is clear.  We must stop the habitual and socially ingrained violence that mars lives, destroys health, perpetuates poverty and prevents us from achieving women’s equality and empowerment.

On this Human Rights Day, we also celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Sixty years ago today, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.  The Convention was a direct outcome of the attempted extermination of the Jewish people during the Holocaust, and ever since has embodied the aspiration of the United Nations to prevent such a horror from occurring again.

This International Volunteer Day comes near the end of a difficult year marked by rising food and fuel prices, accelerating climate change and turmoil in world financial markets.

On this, twentieth World AIDS Day, we are at the dawn of a new era. Fewer people are being infected with HIV.  Fewer people are dying of AIDS.