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
let us be frank with each other, and the peoples of the United Nations. We have not yet achieved the sweeping and fundamental reform that I, and many others, believe is required. Sharp differences, some of them substantive and legitimate, have played their part in preventing that.
I don't think that the United States government rushes to judgment until all the facts are in.
Simply put, what the United Nations wants is what the U.S. also wants: a reformed United Nations that is effective, efficient, leaner and relevant to the tasks that member states want to set for us, ... The world has changed and we have to change, we have to adapt and I have given my commitment to the president that I will pursue reforms.
And I'm not sure that the US is going to insist on that. I think they've made their point, but I'm not sure the other member states would want to see the millennium development goals dropped or, the worse, expunged from the document.
Obviously we didn't get everything we wanted and with 191 member states it's not easy to get an agreement, ... All of us would have wanted more but we can work with what we have been given, and it's a step forward.
The secretary-general has become aware of the fact that UNSCOM directly facilitated the creation of an intelligence collection system for the United States in violation of its mandate,
The states are too high to continue down a dangerous path of diplomatic brinkmanship,
I've had the chance to state my position clearly, which is that we need to build on international treaties and disarmament treaties which exist.
The budget agreed upon today will enable the organization to continue its work uninterrupted while member states pursue the reform proposals adopted during the 2005 world summit.
The UNMISET mandate implementation plan establishes milestones that will allow the Security Council to monitor the achievement of the mission's goals,
Guatemala is going through the most promising period of its recent history,
There will be a resolution, and I still hope it will be unanimous or approved by vast majority, ... This week may not be excluded.
I am in touch with several heads of state, ... We need money, police and troops. I hope not only France, but other states, and not only Security Council members, will help us.
The best peacekeeper is a well-trained soldier, and we would have liked to see some of the governments with capacity, with good armies and well-trained soldiers to participate,