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
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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.
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I think (the US government is) positive to our assistance from the UN and the international community ... We are prepared to do whatever we can,
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I think the United States government is working very hard with the parties to move the process forward, and I urge and encourage the parties to really work with the United States government to make the compromises necessary and move the process forward,
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We can wait until everything is perfect but how much time will that take? One year, two years, three years? Will the population accept this even though they haven't had a chance to vote for 40 years?
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Our systems have not kept pace with the operational demands being placed on us. This is an opportunity which may not occur again until another generation has passed.
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I would want us all to put real collective pressure and sustain it on President Milosevic in the hope that we will get an agreement and he will understand the implications of any escalation,
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It appears that the United States will squeak by, paying just enough to avoid losing its vote in the General Assembly. While the United States will avoid this fate for this year, on the larger question - its legal commitment and its moral obligation
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When states decide to use force, not in self-defense but to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, there is no substitute for the unique legitimacy provided by the Security Council,
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When I think of the delicate balance of tremendous promise and urgent peril in today's world, I think particularly of the nations of Latin America, ... Because yours is a region that truly hangs in that delicate balance. It is in many ways a microcosm of the world in which we live, and it is therefore a place in which all that the United Nations stands for is put to test.
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The practice differs widely, ... But at heart we are dealing with universal values: to be merciful, to be tolerant, to love thy neighbor.
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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.
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Under the circumstances, it is difficult to envisage the United Nations operating with a large number of international staff inside Iraq in the near future unless there is an unexpected and significant improvement in the overall security situation,
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Two years ago, I declared that in my view no reform of the United Nations would be complete without reform of the Security Council. That is still my belief,
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We agreed that in this interdependent world we need the United Nations more than ever.