As a child growing up during the Korean War, I knew poverty. I studied by candlelight.

Since I became Secretary-General, five years ago, I have seen youth participate at the United Nations as never before.

Achieving gender equality requires the engagement of women and men, girls and boys. It is everyone's responsibility.

Gender equality and women's empowerment have been a top priority for me from day one as Secretary-General. And I am committed to making sure that the U.N. leads by example.

I don't want to sound Pollyannish about this. I understand that poverty is never just poverty. It's often this collection of maladies, this compounded adversity. I'm not naive about the problem. But I think that stable, steady housing is one of the surest footholds we could have on the road to financial stability.

Lee Seung-gi before the army and Lee Seung-gi after the army are totally different. Firstly, I've matured a lot. I used to feel pressured by a lot of things before fulfilling my military duties. Now, I'm proud that I've become more confident.

I had a job; I was, during the war, a nurse, a 'Gray Lady.' We wore a veil and a gray dress.

We have accomplished our mission of stopping Iraq's drive to take over Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East. We should begin to reduce our forces in Saudi Arabia, ever so slowly, and look to a more multinational force to keep the peace.