We have to transcend our differences to transform our future.

The fact that societies are becoming increasingly multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multi-religious is good. Diversity is a strength, not a weakness.

Gender equality has a transformative effect that is essential to fully functioning communities, societies, and economies.

India is a country that has no direct interests in some areas of global conflict. It has very good relations with countries in conflict or countries facing difficult security situations, and I believe Indian diplomacy is very well received. India is a bridge-builder, an honest broker, and a messenger of peace.

If resources become scarce, people tend to fight for them. This is increasing the number of people on the move and the number of people forced to move. They're not refugees, according to the legal definition, but they represent a major humanitarian and human rights challenge, as well as a major challenge for world politics.

When you look at human rights, look at gender, and the rights of girls for education in the world - that are crucial issues - some are saying 'Oh, these are western values.' But these are really universal values.

India is a country that has no direct interests in some areas of global conflict. It has very good relations with countries in conflict or countries facing difficult security situations, and I believe Indian diplomacy is very well received. India is a bridge-builder, an honest broker, and a messenger of peace.

Our own objective is to make Africa overcome its difficulties, to make Africa a continent of hope, to make Africa a continent of the future, to make Africa a pillar of the world in which we live - not seen as a problem but seen as an opportunity.

Humanitarian response, sustainable development, and sustaining peace are three sides of the same triangle.

Human rights are being violated in so many places. But we don't give up because we know respect for human rights and human dignity is a basic condition for peace.

We want the world our children inherit to be defined by the values enshrined in the U.N. Charter: peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance, and solidarity.

Since the shock of former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's death, I have been reflecting on what made him so special. To my mind, it is simply this: Kofi Annan was both one of a kind and one of us.

Authorities that erect major obstacles to migration - or place severe restrictions on migrants' work opportunities - inflict needless economic self-harm, as they impose barriers to having their labor needs met in an orderly, legal fashion. Worse still, they unintentionally encourage illegal migration.