Speech delivered by UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri at the Executive Board of UNFPA

[Check against delivery]

As I speak here on behalf of the UN Women family everywhere to respectfully and fraternally pay our tribute to Dr. Babatunde Osotomehin, I am transported back to March 2013 and 2014, when he walked the floors and corridors, mobilized delegations and joined us at the podium in solidarity and in celebration of the adoption of the Agreed Conclusions of the 57^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW57), which heralded a landmark global plan of implementation on the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.

Another time in Conference Room 4, when this younger sister agency—UN Women—pulled off a historic first-ever Gender Equality Summit with 65 Heads of State and Government in 2015, he graciously told Madame Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, that while his troops were jealous and consumed by healthy sibling rivalry, he rejoiced in the miracle and wanted to support the highest level of political commitment building around a cause we shared and promoted together.

Yet in another time and place, I remember him becoming one of the first HeForShe and staunchly defending the ending of harmful practices of female genital mutilation and child marriage—as a man—in a forum of African women, where some women as transmitters of patriarchy were justifying their continuance!

[These are] just three of many instances of how, with the spirit of positive affirmation and synergy, Dr. Babatunde led UNFPA to be a strategic partner and ally of UN Women in norms and standards-setting, advocacy, knowledge generation, movement building and joint programming in the field.

He was a global leader in relentlessly promoting public health and sexual and reproductive rights and services, preventing maternal mortality and meeting all demands for family planning—all of which are so essential for the attainment of not only the highest standards of health and wellbeing of women and girls that they are entitled to, but also so vital for gender equality and women's empowerment and for protecting our shared future, as he stressed consistently.

The international community owes him a debt of gratitude and a duty to carry on his mission.

The gender equality project as Dr. Babatunde so eloquently stated time and again is a project for all of humanity—for sustainable development, peace and security, human rights, humanitarian response and resilience building and critical to the population and development agenda as well as the youth and development dividend agenda.

So that this cause may long endure, I urge you to follow the hallowed footsteps of Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, who led one of the great disobediences of history for the fundamental human rights of women and girls to have control over their bodies and their womb, for the pandemic of violence against women and girls to be defeated, and for a more sustainable and gender-equal and youth-empowered world to be achieved, where patriarchy is unseated and men and boys assume their responsibility for a Planet 50-50.

For this, he both aroused and awakened the consciences of people everywhere, became a champion and role model in Africa and the world, and drove programmes on the ground that transformed the lives of millions.

May his soul rest in peace and may he continue to inspire generations to continue his noble mission. Like him, let us be inflexible in our faith in gender equality and be undaunted by resistance!

Our deepest sympathy and condolences to his family—he was always very proud of his empowered daughters and of his son, whom he raised as a HeForShe. May his soul rest in peace.