I have always believed that on important issues, the leaders must lead. Where the leaders fail to lead, and people are really concerned about it, the people will take the lead and make the leaders follow.
I urge the Iraqi leadership for sake of its own people... to seize this opportunity and thereby begin to end the isolation and suffering of the Iraqi people.
When people say the U.N. is useless, I ask the question, which U.N. are we talking about? We have the U.N. that is a secretariat led by the secretary general, and we have a U.N. made up of member states who give us our mandate.
One has to have the strength of character to say the time has come to move on... unless you are a king.
What governments and people don't realise is that sometimes the collective interest - the international interest - is also the national interest.
More countries have understood that women's equality is a prerequisite for development.
Sometimes I walk into a situation and know someone is going to provoke me, and I just simply refuse to be provoked.
Time and again, when member states and the governments are faced with an insoluble problem, and they're under pressure to do something, that something usually ends up being referred to the U.N.
In the 21st century, I believe the mission of the United Nations will be defined by a new, more profound awareness of the sanctity and dignity of every human life, regardless of race or religion.
To some extent, Rwanda became a victim of the Somalia experience.
I am a stubborn optimist: I was born an optimist and will remain an optimist.
We cannot allow situations where leaders threaten war on television or on Twitter.
Unfortunately, very few governments think about youth unemployment when they are drawing up their national plans.
