United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called for empowerment of women and children.
"I give so much priority to women and children's welfare because I have seen its values for all people. We are striving to provide women and girls with proper health services including sexual and reproductive health. We are pushing for equality in education. We are advocating for the human rights of women and girls. Our goal is to empower them," Ban Ki-moon said during his speech at an event here to mark the 70th anniversary of the United Nations.
The UN chief also called for equal rights for the LGBT community and opposed criminalization of homosexuality.
"We have to fight for the equality of all the members of our human family regardless of any difference including sexual orientation. I staunchly oppose the criminalization of homosexuality," he said.
Ban Ki-moon also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative to build a toilet in every house hold and school by 2019.
"India has made great progress but still has the highest number of death of children under the age of 5. A quarter of all mothers who die during child birth are laid to rest in India. I commend the government's effort to address these issues," said Ban Ki-moon.
"I applaud Prime Minister Modi for committing to extetending of vaccine coverage. I also welcome his initiative to put a toilet in every house hold and school by 2019," he added.
