It is my great honor and pleasure to deliver this address at the Columbia-Fudan Global Summit on Aging & Health, representing UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, and to share with you the perspective and work of the United Nations Population Fund on the important issue of aging. I would like to thank the organizers for the opportunity to reflect upon what has been achieved, and how we are going to improve and do better in as begin the next 15-year period of Global Sustainable Development Goals, Agenda 2030.

Dec. 1, 2016, Beijing—The International Conference on Population Ageing and the Sustainable Development Goals was convened today in Beijing to discuss the importance of population ageing in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

BEIJING, 7 April 2012 – "Good health adds life to years". This is the theme of this year's World Health Day, commemorated every year on 7 April, the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO). The Ministry of Health of China, together with China National Committee on Ageing, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and WHO marked World Health Day 2012 with a campaign to promote healthy ageing, as the proportion of older people continues to grow worldwide.

Population ageing – one of the most significant trends of the 21st century – represents both a cause for celebration and a challenge. To ensure that everyone’s well-being is enhanced through this demographic shift, more efforts are needed to minimize lifelong inequalities and improve the life conditions of older people.

Today, on World AIDS Day, I join every person around the world who believes the next generation should be free of HIV and AIDS. 

More than 30 years into the epidemic, we have moved beyond the early devastation wreaked by AIDS and scored many successes.

Over the past three years, the rate of new HIV infections has dropped by 13 per cent.

Of the estimated 35 million people living with HIV in the world, over 13 million are now receiving treatment.

AIDS-related deaths are at their lowest level since the peak in 2005, down by 35 per cent.

Needs are quickly escalating in Nepal, in the aftermath of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake. The most recent UN estimates indicate more than 5,000 have been killed and 8 million people have been affected. Based on the latest available data, UNFPA now estimates some 2 million women and girls of reproductive age are among those affected – including some 126,000 pregnant women.

As is often the case when disaster strikes, pregnant women remain one of the most vulnerable populations because of the vigilant care they require and the high risks they face.