Thank you. Well, it’s my pleasure this morning to welcome Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi here to Winfield House in London – it’s the home of our American ambassador – and to have a conversation, an important conversation, about the urgency of the convening of the Geneva conference, to try to achieve peace for a new Syria. And we talked about all aspects of this current crisis.

The UN is deeply concerned about the poor security situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) and the widespread human rights abuses in the country. Seleka rebels overthrew President Francois Bozize and took power earlier this year. Since then, analysts say the CAR has descended into lawlessness and is in danger of becoming a failed state.

If you want to change the world, invest in a girl. Today marks the second anniversary of International Day of the Girl, instituted by the United Nations General Assembly to promote the rights of girls, highlight the unique challenges they face around the world, and reaffirm a global commitment to protect and empower them. Given worldwide violence, extremism, poverty, and injustice, we cannot afford to cast aside the contributions that 850 million girls can make to build a safer, more prosperous, and equitable world.

Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai has become a formidable force for rights in the year since the Taliban shot her, but an equally formidable public relations operation has helped her spread her message. The 16-year-old campaigner for girls' education has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, addressed the UN, published an autobiography and been invited to tea with Queen Elizabeth II, achieving a level of fame more like that of a movie star.

Since its completion in 1952, the flat, rectangular, modernist masterpiece on the East River, that is, the United Nations Headquarters has been the site of much geopolitical intrigue as well as a backdrop for films like North by Northwest. It even makes an appearance in the video game, Grand Theft Auto IV. But now for the first time, you or I or anyone can build the UN one LEGO brick by LEGO brick.

If you’re of Pakistani origin, as I am, and if you long to see that embattled country right itself, the saga of Malala Yousafzai can drive you to tears. Not just tears of joy for the way she was a favorite for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Not just tears for how she captured the imagination of Westerners who want to believe the best about Pakistan’s hopes and prospects. More than anything, they are tears of frustration, caused by the manner in which many Pakistanis reject her.