If we are to make poverty history, we must have the active participation of States, civil society and the private sector, as well as individual volunteers.

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

We need to keep hope alive and strive to do better.

For too long the development debate has ignored the fact that poverty tends to be characterized not only by material insufficiency but also by denial of rights. What is needed is a rights-based approach to development. Ensuring essential political, economic and social entitlements and human dignity for all people provides the rationale for policy. These are not a luxury affordable only to the rich and powerful but an indispensable component of national development efforts.

When women thrive, all of society benefits, and succeeding generations are given a better start in life.

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.

Change is a process which has to be managed. If it's managed and managed well in the interest of the nation and the people, the likelihood is that it will end well.