Peace is a fragile thing. It takes courage to secure it. It takes wisdom to maintain it.

Too often the desire for peace has been expressed by women while the stewardship of the mechanisms which are used to attempt to secure peace in the short and medium term are dominated by male decision-making structures and informal arrangements. This must change.

I can't for the life of me see that by being permissive you actually assist anyone.

I'm not sure that it matters as much to women as to our male colleagues to have the public adulation and be on the public mind.

NGOs have a significant role to play, alongside governments, in improving the status of women.

Every second, every day, every year, we fail to address demand for reproductive health and family planning services. Lives are lost, and girls' opportunities to thrive and contribute to their country's development shrink. These are real people.