Landmines are among the most barbaric weapons of war, because they continue to kill and maim innocent people long after the war itself has ended. Also, fear of them keeps people off the land, and thus prevents them from growing food.

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

The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the States in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being.

To build a more healthy, peaceful and equitable world the classrooms of the world have to be full of girls as well as boys.

For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.

I was an ordinary boy at school, a young man. In fact, what did the headmaster once say? "You're constantly challenging those in authority; questioning and challenging those in authority." Which was not really the way I saw it. I felt there were questions that had to be answered, and things that weren't quite right.

Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation, and it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace