Kofi Annan Totally Explained

Annan supported sending a UN peacekeeping mission to Darfur, Sudan, and worked with the government of Sudan to accept a transfer of power from the African Union peacekeeping mission to a UN one. Annan also worked with several Arab and Muslim countries on women's rights and other topics. Nuala O'Loan, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland recently stated, "I imagine that if Kofi Annan saw somebody abusing human rights he'd kick them in the knee".
Beginning in 1998 Annan convened an annual UN Security Council Retreat with 15 States representatives of the Council at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) Conference Center at the Rockefeller family estate at Pocantico, which was sponsored by both the RBF and the UN. Along with his wife he also attended the Playhouse at the family estate on the occasion of Brooke Astor's 100th birthday celebration (see Kykuit). He is a strong supporter and guest of the family's Asia Society in New York.

UN controversies during Annan's tenure

Lubbers sexual needs

In June 2004, Annan was given a copy of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) report on the complaint of sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and retaliation against Ruud Lubbers, UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The report also discussed allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against Werner Blatter, Director of UNHCR Personnel by a long-serving staff member. The investigation report found Ruud Lubbers guilty of sexual harassment and no mention was made publicly of the other charge against a senior official or the two subsequent complaints she filed later that year. In the course of the official investigation, Lubbers wrote a letter that some speculate was a threat to the female worker who had brought the charges of misconduct. However, on July 15, 2004, Lubbers was declared innocent by Kofi Annan . His decision only lasted until November when OIOS issued its annual report to the UN General Assembly noting it has found Lubbers guilty. Widely reported in the media, these events served to weaken Annan's position.
On November 17, 2004, Annan accepted a report clearing UN Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services Dileep Nair of graft and sexual harassment charges — charges which some viewed as retaliation against Nair for supporting the complainant in the Lubbers affair. However, clearance wasn't viewed favorably by some UN staff in New York, leading to extensive debate on November 19. In February 2005, Lubbers resigned as head of the UN refugee agency. (External Link

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Administration of the Oil-for-Food Program

In December 2004, reports surfaced that the Secretary-General's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna Inspection SA, which won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation into this matter.
The Independent Inquiry Committee into The United Nations Oil-for-Food Program was appointed by Annan and led by former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker; Volcker has strong ideological ties to the UN as director of the United Nations Association of the United States of America. In his first interview with the Inquiry Committee, Annan denied having had a meeting with Cotecna. Later in the inquiry he recalled that he'd met with Cotecna's chief executive Elie-Georges Massey twice. In a final report issued on October 27, the committee found insufficient evidence to indict Kofi Annan on any illegal actions, but did find fault with Mr. Benan Sevan, a Cypriot national who had worked for the UN for about 40 years. Appointed to his Oil-For-Food role by Kofi Annan, Mr. Sevan repeatedly asked Iraqis for allocations of oil to the African Middle East Petroleum Company. Sevan's behavior was "ethically improper", Volker said to reporters. Sevan for his part, has repeatedly denied the charges and argues that he's being made a "scapegoat". The Volker report was also highly critical of the UN management structure and the Security Council oversight and strongly recommended a new position of Chief Operating Officer to handle the fiscal and administrative responsibilities which currently fall to the Secretary General's office. The report listed the companies, both Western and Middle Eastern, who illegally benefited from the program. (External Link

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Conflict between the United States and the United Nations

Kofi Annan supported his deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown, who openly criticized segments of the United States media in a speech on June 6, 2006: "But [theUN's role in peacekeeping] isn't well known or understood, in part because much of the public discourse that reaches the US heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest detractors such as Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. The prevailing practice of seeking to use the UN almost by stealth as a diplomatic tool while failing to stand up for it against its domestic critics is simply not sustainable…. You will lose the UN one way or another." The U.S. ambassador John R. Bolton was reported to have told Annan on the phone: "I've known you since 1989 and I'm telling you this is the worst mistake by a senior UN official that I've seen in that entire time."

Annan's recommendations for UN reform

On March 21, 2005, Annan presented a progress report, In Larger Freedom, to the UN General Assembly. Annan recommended Security Council expansion and a host of other UN reforms.
   On 31 January, 2006, Kofi Annan outlined his vision for a comprehensive reform of the UN in a policy speech to the United Nations Association UK. The speech, delivered at Central Hall, Westminster, also marked the 60th Anniversary of the first meetings of the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council.
   On March 7, 2006, he presented to the General Assembly his proposals for a fundamental overhaul of the United Nations Secretariat. The reform report is entitled: "Investing in the United Nations, For a Stronger Organization Worldwide".
   On March 30, 2006, he presented to the General Assembly his analysis and recommendations for updating the entire work programme of the United Nations Secretariat over the last 60 years. The report is entitled: "Mandating and Delivering: Analysis and Recommendations to Facilitate the Review of Mandates".

Farewell addresses

On September 19, 2006, Annan gave a farewell address to world leaders gathered at the UN headquarters in New York, in anticipation of his retirement on December 31. In the speech he outlined three major problems of "an unjust world economy, world disorder, and widespread contempt for human rights and the rule of law", which he believes "have not resolved, but sharpened" during his time as Secretary-General. He also pointed to violence in Africa, and the Arab-Israeli conflict as two major issues warranting attention.
On December 11 2006, in his final speech as Secretary-General, delivered at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri, Annan recalled Truman's leadership in the founding of the United Nations. He called for the United States to return to President Truman's multilateralist foreign policies, and to follow Truman's credo that "the responsibility of the great states is to serve and not dominate the peoples of the world". He also said that the United States must maintain its commitment to human rights, "including in the struggle against terrorism."

Post-UN career

Upon his return to Ghana, Annan was immediately suggested as a candidate to become the country's next head of state.
   In April of 2007, Annan was named chairman of the prize committee for the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership.
   In June 2007, Annan was chosen to lead the new formation of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
   In July 2007, Annan was chosen as a member of the Global Elders

Honors

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (Kumasi), Honorary Doctor of Science, August 24, 1998
United Nations Mandated University for Peace, Honorary President, 1999
Lund University, Honorary Doctor of Law, 1999
National University of Ireland, Doctor of Law, January 22, 1999
Technische Universität Dresden, doctor honoris causa, April 27, 1999
Howard University, honorary doctorate of humane letters, May 8, 1999
University of Notre Dame, Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, May 21, 2000
Seton Hall University, John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Honorary Doctorate, February 2001
Brown University, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, May 28, 2001
Free University of Berlin, doctor honoris causa, July 13, 2001
Nobel Foundation, The Nobel Peace Prize, jointly presented to Kofi Annan and the United Nations, 2001
Northwestern University, Doctor of Laws, June 21, 2002
2002 winner of the "Profiles in Courage Award," given by the JFK Memorial Museum.
University of Pittsburgh, honorary Doctor of Public and International Affairs degree October 21, 2003
Ghent University (Belgium), doctor honoris causa March 21, 2003
Carleton University, Legum Doctor, honoris causa, March 9, 2004
University of Ottawa, Doctor of the University Degree, March 9, 2004
University of Pennsylvania, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, May 16, 2005
Grand Collar of the Order of Liberty (Portugal), October 11, 2005
Universidade Nova de Lisboa, doctor honoris causa, October 12, 2005
The George Washington University, Doctor of Public Service, May 5, 2006
University of Tokyo, Honorary Doctorate, May 18, 2006
Order of the Dutch Lion, Grand Cross, 2006
Georgetown University, Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, October 30, 2006
University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, Max Schmidheiny Foundation Freedom Prize (originally awarded 2003, but postponed due to Annan's illness), November 18, 2006
Princeton University, Crystal Tiger Award, November 28, 2006
Inter Press Service, International Achievement Award for Annan's lasting contributions to peace, security, and development, December 19, 2006
Olof Palme Prize, 2006

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