Statements and speeches
Statement
Girls are on the front lines of crisis – and of their future
08 October 2025
Every girl has the right to embrace who she is and choose who she wants to become. On her path to adulthood, she must be protected, respected and allowed to flourish, her aspirations for her future heard and encouraged, her rights and choices protected.
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Panel Remarks by Ms. Diene Keita, UNFPA Executive Director, at the UNGA80 High-Level Meeting: 30th Anniversary of the World Programme of Action for Youth
26 September 2025
In practice, it means, among other things, access to sexual and reproductive health services and protection against gender-based violence, including technology-assisted gender-based violence (TGBV), and harmful practices. It means putting their rights and choices first.
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Opening Remarks by Ms. Diene Keita, UNFPA Executive Director, at the UNGA80 Side Event: The Political Economy of Implementing Primary Health Care: Key Policy Shifts
25 September 2025
When we think of primary health care, our minds turn to Kazakhstan—to Alma-Ata, where the bold vision for primary health care was born in 1978, and to Astana, where the commitment was renewed in 2018. We are reminded that health begins not in hospitals, but in communities, in families, in the daily lives of people across the life course.
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Opening Remarks by Ms. Diene Keita, UNFPA Executive Director at the UNGA80 Side Event: Scaling What Works: From Local Success to Global Impact
25 September 2025
Life-changing solutions exist, but too often, they don't reach those who need them most. This event is about bridging that gap. We’re here to explore how to unlock the capital, partnerships, and political will to scale what works.
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Remarks by Ms. Diene Keita, UNFPA Executive Director, at the UNGA80 Side Event: Building Resilience for Women and Girls in the Face of Climate Change and Conflict
24 September 2025
As the mothers of your nations, you are in a unique and powerful position to influence national agendas, champion legal reforms, and mobilize public support for the protection and the empowerment of women, girls and young people.
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Opening Remarks by Ms. Diene Keita, UNFPA Executive Director, at the UNGA80 Side Event: The Role of the Private Sector in Advancing Women’s Health “Spotlight on Menopause”
24 September 2025
By 2030, more than one billion women will be postmenopausal. Their health and contributions will profoundly shape families, communities, and economies.
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Opening Remarks by Ms. Diene Keita, UNFPA Executive Director, at the UNGA80 High-Level Meeting on Beijing+30
22 September 2025
Mr. Secretary-General, Madam President, Excellencies, esteemed colleagues, Thirty years ago in Beijing, the world pledged to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment. One year earlier, at the…
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Opening Remarks by Ms. Diene Keita, UNFPA Executive Director, at the UNGA80 Side Event: Uniting Efforts on Non-Communicable Diseases and Maternal Health
22 September 2025
It is a privilege to welcome you to UNFPA, and to have so many distinguished guests join us on the eve of the General Debate and the High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases – seminal moments for global health.
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Attacks on Gaza City are destroying health and protection services for pregnant women and survivors of violence
15 September 2025
Intensified bombardment and ground operations in Gaza City are forcing families to flee yet again, with nowhere safe left to turn. Thousands of women and girls are being forced to risk their lives on unsafe roads at prohibitive cost, only to reach overcrowded areas with no food, healthcare, shelter, clean water or sanitation.
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Statement by Ms. Diene Keita Acting Executive Director, UNFPA at the Second Regular Session of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS
26 August 2025
I thank the Board for your support and guidance and for the extensive consultations that have resulted in the UNFPA Strategic Plan 2026-2029 and associated Integrated Budget before you this session.
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Gaza Famine a Catastrophe for Mothers and Infants
22 August 2025
In Gaza today, famine is no longer a dark threat – it has set in. For pregnant and breastfeeding women and their newborns, it is a possible death sentence.
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As health and aid workers face record attacks, leaders must act
14 August 2025
Humanitarian action has never been more important, nor more imperiled. Needs are overwhelming, humanitarian response woefully underfunded, and aid workers and vital infrastructure increasingly under attack.
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