Global Advocate of United Nations Secretary-General Kersti KALJULAID addresses the global community in the beginning of 2022.
Merry Christmas, everyone, and Happy New Year!
I would truly wish to see that the next year is happy for every woman, every child and every adolescent on this planet. Yet I know, this is not the case. Partially yes, it´s the pandemic. Many women do not dare to go to the doctor or to the midwife, or they cannot go. Many kids have lost access to school and also to the school meals.
But not only pandemics, wars and conflicts are going on. Despite the call of the Secretary-General for ceasefire, at least for pandemics. Life of women and children in conflict is hard. More children are starving than before the pandemics. We cannot get the time back which we have lost. But we have to first crawl back up the mountain, up the hilltop, to be able to guarantee that every child and every woman in this world can safely say with confidence “Happy New Year!”, and truly believe that this new year will be happier.
I also wish to greet all those people who have contributed to the EWEC movement or the United Nations, and also more widely, who have contributed to make life of children, women and adolescents better on this planet.
Thank you all, together we can truly say – Happy New Year!