His Excellency Mr. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, President of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, spoke  on March 8 about the urgent need for a women's agency, and how the UN can change the course of history. Read his remarks below.

After being blind for years to the needs and rights of women, the United Nations is finally well on its way to create a "fully-resourced" women's agency.

Julia Greenberg, AIDS-Free World's Associate Director, tells the inside story behind the sudden groundswell of support within the United Nations for a new agency for women.

For a quarter century, HIV/AIDS has exploited women’s lack of power at every level, from the halls of power to individual homes in rural villages. That history proves that all of the condoms, doctors, drugs and social workers in the world can’t stop a virus that is perpetuated by women’s vulnerability if we ignore the mechanisms of power that keep women marginalized, financially dependent and oppressed.