March 8, 2016

"This year’s celebration of International Women’s Day is the first within the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are confidently asserted in that Agenda as intrinsic to progress. . . Women and girls are critical to finding sustainable solutions to the challenges of poverty, inequality and the recovery of the communities hardest hit by conflicts, disasters and displacements."

- U.N. Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, from her message on International Women's Day, March 8