The president has been asking me for the last three years to come, I am happy to be among you.

I have come here to see for myself what is happening and to discuss with the president and the prime minister what we can do together in the short and the long term.

[French President Jacques Chirac said the bombings left him] stunned and saddened, ... perpetrators of this cowardly attack.

There are now 11 women heads of state or government, in countries on every continent. And three countries -- Chile, Spain and Sweden -- now have gender parity in government.

The balance must be redressed.

We are going to work with the Congolese people and the government to make sure we make progress and consolidate peace and stability.