Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annanis a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006. Annan and the United Nations were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize "for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world." He is the founder and the Chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as being the chairman of The Elders, a group founded by Nelson Mandela...
NationalityGhanaian
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth8 April 1938
CityKumasi, Ghana
CountryGhana
I think we need a clear global understanding of the threats and challenges that we all have to face, because to neglect any one of them might fatally undermine our efforts to confront the others.
We must not promise too much or raise expectations higher than are justified by the will of governments to act, but we must do whatever we can to raise the standards of international behavior and responsibility. I think we can only hope to succeed in that if we have a very clear idea of what was wrong up to now.
I think is it is very important that the Iraqi parliament reversed itself, because that decision was patently inappropriate and we made that clear to them,
Some governments have made it clear that next time around there may not even be time for diplomatic appeals,
We've indicated quite clearly what the U.N. has achieved and has done since the passage of Resolution 1483. And we have also indicated and spelled out the areas where the U.N. can make further contributions.
We need to decide our priorities. And we must adapt our United Nations so that in the future, those priorities are reflected in clear and prompt decisions leading to real change in people's lives. That my friend is what the people expect of us -- let us not disappoint them.
We have made it clear that it does not go around encouraging abortions, ... It does give good advice to women in the area of reproductive health and does very good work around the world, including in China.
What's needed now is not more declarations or promises, but action, ... I believe my report provides a clear program of action.
Today let us hear the bell ring loud and clear and true to our conscience, ... Let it ring out a century of cruelty and destruction and let it ring in a millennium of hope and peace.
I have been gratified by the clear determination expressed by NATO and its member governments to prevent a further escalation of the fighting, and I encourage all steps that may deter the further use of ethnically driven repression and the resort to violence by either side in Kosovo,
I am relieved that this saga is now over, ... I made it clear from the beginning that the boy belongs with his father.
We have a clear mandate from the Security Council to do whatever we can to work with the government and the people of Iraq to make sure Iraq takes charge of its own future and develops a stable peaceful society,
Let us not be deceived when we look at a clear blue sky into thinking that all is well. All is not well,
Lots of consultations are going on in various capitals. And everyone concerned, including the Americans, have made it clear they would prefer a diplomatic solution, ... Let us give it time. Let us see what happens.