500 days – today marks exactly 500 days until the deadline of the MDGs.  

Now, 500 days sounds like a lot, and time enough to meet the challenges remaining when it comes to promoting gender equality and empowering women.  However, when we consider how far we have come and the gaps that continue to persist, the reality is that it is no time at all.  

That is why I am so comforted to see us all coming together to strengthen our commitments and actions in order to address the important issue of investing in girls and women.

And that is why I am so thrilled with the announcement just made by the Minister for Trade and Development that Copenhagen has been selected as the host city for the next Women Deliver Conference, to be held in May 2016.

I have had the opportunity to participate in previous conferences, in 2010 and 2013, and look very much forward to not only welcoming the world’s leading girls’ and women’s health and rights advocates to Copenhagen, but also to participating once again in what is an inspirational, powerful and potential game-changing forum.

And this is exactly what we need, with only 500 days to go – we need game-changing action.

We all know that investing in girls and women is not just the right thing to do – it is a smart investment in achieving a more equitable world.

A world where all women and men, adult and young have equal opportunities, freedom and choices to forge their own life aspirations and destinies.

The choice of Copenhagen as host city also makes me proud because like my country, I am also committed to achieving gender equality. Gender equality is central to social development, education, health, poverty reduction, and economic growth.

I believe that the empowerment of women, the rights and empowerment of adolescents and youth, and sexual and reproductive health and rights are the foundation of a universal, people-centered, socially just and effective post-2015 agenda that will benefit all humanity, the planet, and yields high returns for both present and future generations.

We are now seeing the largest generation of young people under 25 in history.  So, investing in young people is imperative.  The future of this group, currently 3 billion, will be shaped by the opportunities they have access to. We must work together to ensure that each and every young person can reach their full potential, including young women who face even tougher challenges in exercising their rights.

We cannot afford economically nor socially to leave this resource untapped. This means ensuring that young people have access to education, to comprehensive sexuality education, to sexual and reproductive health, to employment and that they have the ability to exercise their rights, make informed decisions, and plan their lives.

There exists, here and now, a window of opportunity to ensure that the status, rights, importance, value and investment in women and girls are recognised, celebrated and placed in the centre of any sustainable global development agenda of the future.

There has never been a better time to raise our voices in support of the health and empowerment of girls and women and with the deadline of the MDGs only 500 days away, we must work together to intensify and scale all our commitments and actions.

Thank you.