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
What is needed today is nothing less than a new consensus between alliances that are frayed, between wealthy nations and poor. The essence of that consensus is simple: We all share responsibility for each other's security.
What is important is that we don't make a futile attempt to prevent people from crossing borders, ... The moving of people will continue.
What is important is that they should be treated in accordance with established norms of law, internationally and otherwise,
Throughout this year, I have done everything in my power to ensure peaceful compliance with (U.N.) Security Council resolutions and to avert the use of force,
You have to have some hope, otherwise I wouldn't be getting into this exercise, ... It may take some time. I don't think we are going to have a miraculous breakthrough, but at least it's a beginning.
what to do when circumstances change and you need to move from one kind of operation to another.
What happens in the West Bank is very much on our mind, ... For us, the Quartet, it's Gaza first and then the next stage will be the West Bank, not Gaza first and Gaza last.
What happened with the African Union soldiers is completely unacceptable,
This will be our first encounter, ... I have no idea what sort of atmosphere it's going to be, what he is like, how he reacts. Obviously, this is going to be a very difficult discussion. It is an issue that has persisted for 10 years.
The practice differs widely, ... But at heart we are dealing with universal values: to be merciful, to be tolerant, to love thy neighbor.
The prevailing mood is one of optimism, ... The parties have proclaimed ... their determination to work together. At long last we can all sense a new wave of movement.
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.