Ministers, Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

It is a great honor for me, to be here with you today at such a momentous time – on the heels of the Sustainable Development Summit. 

During the past few days the UN has been a buzz. You can just feel the positive energy and the strong will to create real change. It is truly a historic time. 

Over the past two years in the UN there has been intensive public consultation and engagement with civil society and other stakeholders around the world. 

The complex and demanding negotiations are now complete and we now have, 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets that provide the blueprint for the world’s development agenda that will guide us through to 2030. 

The agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity and one could say, this Agenda is the most ambitious in history. 

By the year 2030, my children will have come of age. For them, and the billions of other young people, we must strive to create a world; 

• where a girl has the same chance to survive and thrive as a boy 
• where she can attend and finish secondary school 
• where she can choose if and when, and with whom to have a baby 
• where she doesn’t risk dying in childbirth 
• where she is economically empowered, financially literate, can own land and have a bank account.

In short, where her health and wellbeing do not depend on the lottery of birth. 

Since 2012, I have been a member of the High Level Task Force for the International Conference on Population Development. The Task Force was established to provide a bold and independent voice for gender equality, the empowerment of young people and sexual and reproductive health and rights for all. And for ensuring their rightful place in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

Time and time again it has been made clear that these issues are not standalone issues, but ones that are central to social and environmental development, education, health, poverty eradication, and economic growth. 

Gender equality and the realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights are fundamental human rights and absolutely fundamental for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable societies. 

Women and girls must enjoy equal access to quality education, health services and information, economic, and political participation, as well as equal opportunities for employment, leadership and decision-making at all levels. 

Our ability to achieve truly transformative change and results across all the 17 development Goals is dependent on the progress achieved for girls and women. 

Last month, I had the privilege of raising the first flag of the Global Goals campaign in Copenhagen. By raising the flag representing Goal Number 5 – the achievement of Gender Equality and the empowerment of all women and girls – we celebrated its rightful place, in the heart of the highest international agenda. 

Raising the flag for Gender Equality in Denmark I believe was very fitting. As a nation, Denmark has been and will continue to be a strong global and continuous voice for the rights of girls and women. And Denmark will soon play host to thousands of world influencers, advocates, policymakers, young people, journalists, private sector leaders, and members of civil society when they gather in May, 2016 at the Women Deliver Conference in Copenhagen. 

The UN Summit on the SDGs marked the beginning of a new era. Now, we must work even harder to ensure that the political promises made during the Summit are kept and put into action is taken to transform the lives of billions. 

The Women Deliver Conference next year is a critical step on that journey. Why? (because) The Women Deliver Conference is an effective and result driven forum to share ideas and strategize on how to make the world a better place for girls and women (which in reality – means a better world for us all). 

As it is the first gathering of the development community, after the adoption of the new 2030 Agenda, Women Deliver in Copenhagen provides the perfect platform to accelerate effective implementation of that Agenda and how we make it matter most for girls and women.
As a proud patron of the conference, I look forward to not only welcoming the world’s leading girls’ and women’s health and rights advocates – including youth advocates from around the globe –but also to participate once again in what is an inspirational, powerful and game-changing forum. 

However, there is a lot to be done before May next year. We must remain committed to ensuring girls and women are at the heart of implementation of the New Agenda globally, regionally and nationally. 

Their health, rights and wellbeing must be prioritized and respected. When women and girls are healthy and educated, they prosper - as do their children and families. 

As we say in Women Deliver: When we invest in girls and women – everybody wins. 

Thank you.