When you have difficult issues on the table for discussion, then sometimes for Africa you may have Burundi or Gambia representing them on the Security Council; and then for Latin America you may have a country like Costa Rica, which is a wonderful country but they don't have the same weight as others from the other regions. And sometimes they get bullied. Sometimes their capitals come under lots of pressure to take a position.

World Health Day is an opportunity to highlight the problem, but above all, to stimulate action. It is an occasion to call on all partners - governments, international donors, civil society, the private sector, the media, families and individuals alike - to develop sustainable activities for the survival, health and well-being of mothers and children. On this World Health Day, let us rededicate ourselves to that mission.

You may have noticed over the years that the UN became a bit more media-friendly, a bit more open to the media than in the past.

The report produced by my commission, the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security, in 2012 showed the corrosive impact of money in US politics, for example, which undermines the legitimacy of the democratic system in citizens' eyes. Such perceptions partly explain the rise of a phenomenon like the success of Donald Trump.

We need to think of the future and the planet we are going to leave to our children and their children.

A nation has the right to defend itself, but when it comes to the broader issue of peace and security, the legitimacy rests only with the Security Council.

If our hopes of building a better and safer world are to become more than wishful thinking, we will need the engagement of volunteers more than ever.