Addressing the opening of the 2016 session of the Commission on Population and Development, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today underscored the importance of that body’s role in advancing the new global development agenda.

“This Commission has a proud tradition of focusing on people,” he said, stressing that the body addresses issues related to the timeless opening words of the UN Charter: ‘We the Peoples.’

Above all, people are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, he said of the 15-year vision unanimously adopted last year by UN Member States.