To educate girls is to reduce poverty.

There is no tool for development more effective than the education of girls and the empowerment of women... When women are fully involved, the benefits can be seen immediately: families are healthier; they are better fed; their income, savings, and reinvestment go up. And what is true of families is true of communities and, eventually, whole countries.

On this International Literacy Day, let us recall that literacy for all is an integral part of education for all, and that both are critical for achieving truly sustainable development for all.

Achieving the MDGs is not optional; it is an essential investment in a safer, more human and prosperous world

The Millennium Development Goals can be met by 2015, but only if all involved break with business as usual and dramatically accelerate and scale up action now.

The status quo cannot work.

UN is made even more complex by the constant interplay of politics and bureaucracy and can certainly be bewildering for a novice.