Democrats Abroad New Zealand
12.11.2006
What I've Learned (WashingtonPost.com)
By Kofi A. Annan
Monday, December 11, 2006; Page A19
Nearly 50 years ago, when I arrived in Minnesota as a student fresh from Africa, I had much to learn -- starting with the fact that there is nothing wimpish about wearing earmuffs when it is 15 degrees below zero. All my life since has been a learning experience. Now I want to pass on five lessons I have learned during 10 years as secretary general of the United Nations that I believe the community of nations needs to learn as it confronts the challenges of the 21st century.
First, in today's world we are all responsible for each other's security. Against such threats as nuclear proliferation, climate change, global pandemics or terrorists operating from safe havens in failed states, no nation can make itself secure by seeking supremacy over all others. Only by working to make each other secure can we hope to achieve lasting security for ourselves. This responsibility includes our shared responsibility to protect people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. That was accepted by all nations at last year's U.N. summit. But when we look at the murder, rape and starvation still being inflicted on the people of Darfur, we realize that such doctrines remain pure rhetoric unless those with the power to intervene effectively -- by exerting political, economic or, in the last resort, military muscle -- are prepared to take the lead. It also includes a responsibility to future generations to preserve resources that belong to them as well as to us. Every day that we do nothing, or too little, to prevent climate change imposes higher costs on our children.
Second, we are also responsible for each other's welfare. Without a measure of solidarity, no society can be truly stable. It is not realistic to think that some people can go on deriving great benefits from globalization while billions of others are left in, or thrown into, abject poverty. We have to give all our fellow human beings at least a chance to share in our prosperity.
Third, both security and prosperity depend on respect for human rights and the rule of law. Throughout history human life has been enriched by diversity, and different communities have learned from each other. But if our communities are to live in peace we must stress also what unites us: our common humanity and the need for our human dignity and rights to be protected by law.
(More ... Washington Post > Columns)
Monday, December 11, 2006; Page A19
Nearly 50 years ago, when I arrived in Minnesota as a student fresh from Africa, I had much to learn -- starting with the fact that there is nothing wimpish about wearing earmuffs when it is 15 degrees below zero. All my life since has been a learning experience. Now I want to pass on five lessons I have learned during 10 years as secretary general of the United Nations that I believe the community of nations needs to learn as it confronts the challenges of the 21st century.
First, in today's world we are all responsible for each other's security. Against such threats as nuclear proliferation, climate change, global pandemics or terrorists operating from safe havens in failed states, no nation can make itself secure by seeking supremacy over all others. Only by working to make each other secure can we hope to achieve lasting security for ourselves. This responsibility includes our shared responsibility to protect people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. That was accepted by all nations at last year's U.N. summit. But when we look at the murder, rape and starvation still being inflicted on the people of Darfur, we realize that such doctrines remain pure rhetoric unless those with the power to intervene effectively -- by exerting political, economic or, in the last resort, military muscle -- are prepared to take the lead. It also includes a responsibility to future generations to preserve resources that belong to them as well as to us. Every day that we do nothing, or too little, to prevent climate change imposes higher costs on our children.
Second, we are also responsible for each other's welfare. Without a measure of solidarity, no society can be truly stable. It is not realistic to think that some people can go on deriving great benefits from globalization while billions of others are left in, or thrown into, abject poverty. We have to give all our fellow human beings at least a chance to share in our prosperity.
Third, both security and prosperity depend on respect for human rights and the rule of law. Throughout history human life has been enriched by diversity, and different communities have learned from each other. But if our communities are to live in peace we must stress also what unites us: our common humanity and the need for our human dignity and rights to be protected by law.
(More ... Washington Post > Columns)
Labels: Annan, UN, Washington Post
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Annan to blast U.S. in farewell (USAToday.com)
Posted 12/10/2006 10:44 PM ET
By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY
In a farewell speech on U.S. soil today, retiring United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan plans to deliver a tough critique of President Bush's policies. He will accuse the administration of trying to secure the United States from terrorism in part by dominating other nations through force, committing what he termed human rights abuses and taking military action without broad international support.
Though Annan has long been a critic of the war in Iraq and other Bush foreign policies, the planned speech is among his toughest and is unusual for a U.N. secretary-general concluding his tenure.
Annan's remarks, provided to USA TODAY by his office, list principles for international relations, among them "respect for human rights and the rule of law."
These ideas can be advanced only "if America remains true to its principles, including in the struggle against terrorism," the speech says. "When it appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused."
In the 61-year history of the U.N., no secretary-general has ended his tenure by criticizing U.S. policies so sharply, said Stanley Meisler, a historian of the United Nations and author of a new biography of Annan.
Ric Grennell, spokesman for the U.S. mission to the U.N., said he would not discuss the remarks prior to their delivery. John Bolton, outgoing U.S. ambassador to the U.N., also declined to comment.
In his speech, Annan refers to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. When "military force is used, the world at large will consider it legitimate only when convinced that it is being used for the right purpose … in accordance with broadly accepted norms."
The speech continues that "governments must be accountable for their actions in the international arena, as well as in the domestic one."
The speech, to be delivered at the presidential library of the late Harry Truman in Independence, Mo., contrasts Truman's support for the United Nations with the Bush administration's unilateral actions.
(More ... USA Today > World) ¶ 20:29 0 comments
By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY
In a farewell speech on U.S. soil today, retiring United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan plans to deliver a tough critique of President Bush's policies. He will accuse the administration of trying to secure the United States from terrorism in part by dominating other nations through force, committing what he termed human rights abuses and taking military action without broad international support.
Though Annan has long been a critic of the war in Iraq and other Bush foreign policies, the planned speech is among his toughest and is unusual for a U.N. secretary-general concluding his tenure.
Annan's remarks, provided to USA TODAY by his office, list principles for international relations, among them "respect for human rights and the rule of law."
These ideas can be advanced only "if America remains true to its principles, including in the struggle against terrorism," the speech says. "When it appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused."
In the 61-year history of the U.N., no secretary-general has ended his tenure by criticizing U.S. policies so sharply, said Stanley Meisler, a historian of the United Nations and author of a new biography of Annan.
Ric Grennell, spokesman for the U.S. mission to the U.N., said he would not discuss the remarks prior to their delivery. John Bolton, outgoing U.S. ambassador to the U.N., also declined to comment.
In his speech, Annan refers to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. When "military force is used, the world at large will consider it legitimate only when convinced that it is being used for the right purpose … in accordance with broadly accepted norms."
The speech continues that "governments must be accountable for their actions in the international arena, as well as in the domestic one."
The speech, to be delivered at the presidential library of the late Harry Truman in Independence, Mo., contrasts Truman's support for the United Nations with the Bush administration's unilateral actions.
(More ... USA Today > World) ¶ 20:29 0 comments
11.16.2006
US Rejects Annan Call to Reduce Geenhouse Gases (Reuters.com)
Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:05am ET
NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United States rejected on Wednesday a plea by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and to join the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol on fighting global warming.
"We think that the United States has been leading in terms of its ground-breaking initiatives," Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, told a news conference during November 6-17 U.N. talks on combating global warming.
Earlier, Annan told environment ministers from 70 nations that there was a "shocking lack of leadership" in cutting emissions. He also said: "I think it would be preferable if they (the United States) signed the Kyoto agreement."
Dobriansky said that the United States was sticking to its goal of braking, rather than capping, the rise in emissions and investing heavily in new technologies to fight global warming.
"We seek to slow, reverse and to really curb emissions," she said.
President George W. Bush pulled out of Kyoto in 2001, saying that caps on emissions of greenhouse gases would cost U.S. jobs and wrongly excluded developing nations from targets for 2012.
(More ... Reuters > News > U.S. > Article)
NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United States rejected on Wednesday a plea by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and to join the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol on fighting global warming.
"We think that the United States has been leading in terms of its ground-breaking initiatives," Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, told a news conference during November 6-17 U.N. talks on combating global warming.
Earlier, Annan told environment ministers from 70 nations that there was a "shocking lack of leadership" in cutting emissions. He also said: "I think it would be preferable if they (the United States) signed the Kyoto agreement."
Dobriansky said that the United States was sticking to its goal of braking, rather than capping, the rise in emissions and investing heavily in new technologies to fight global warming.
"We seek to slow, reverse and to really curb emissions," she said.
President George W. Bush pulled out of Kyoto in 2001, saying that caps on emissions of greenhouse gases would cost U.S. jobs and wrongly excluded developing nations from targets for 2012.
(More ... Reuters > News > U.S. > Article)
Labels: Annan, Bush, Climate Change, Reuters, UN
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UN's Annan Launches Plan to Help Africa on Climate (Reuters.com)
By Daniel Wallis and Gerard Wynn
NAIROBI, Nov 15 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched a plan on Wednesday to help Africa fight global warming, and criticised a "frightening lack of leadership" in confronting what he called one of the world's biggest threats.
"Global climate change must take its place alongside those threats -- conflict, poverty, the proliferation of deadly weapons -- that have traditionally monopolised first-order political attention," he told ministers at a U.N. conference.
Annan announced the plan by six U.N. agencies called the "Nairobi Framework" to help developing nations, especially in Africa, get more funds to promote clean energies such as wind and hydropower. He urged rich donor nations to contribute.
Annan also said the U.N.'s environment and development agencies were launching a scheme to help poor nations factor climate change into development plans, such as building roads, bridges or buildings to withstand more floods or droughts.
"Climate change is not just an environmental issue, as too many people still believe. It is an all-encompassing threat," he said at the talks, which are seeking ways to extend the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol on fighting climate change beyond 2012.
"While the Kyoto Protocol is a crucial step forward, that step is far too small. And as we consider how to go further still, there remains a frightening lack of leadership," he said.
Annan, a Ghanaian who will step down from his U.N. post in December, did not mention any country by name in his address to environment ministers from about 100 nations.
(More ... Reuters > News > World Crises > Article)
NAIROBI, Nov 15 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched a plan on Wednesday to help Africa fight global warming, and criticised a "frightening lack of leadership" in confronting what he called one of the world's biggest threats.
"Global climate change must take its place alongside those threats -- conflict, poverty, the proliferation of deadly weapons -- that have traditionally monopolised first-order political attention," he told ministers at a U.N. conference.
Annan announced the plan by six U.N. agencies called the "Nairobi Framework" to help developing nations, especially in Africa, get more funds to promote clean energies such as wind and hydropower. He urged rich donor nations to contribute.
Annan also said the U.N.'s environment and development agencies were launching a scheme to help poor nations factor climate change into development plans, such as building roads, bridges or buildings to withstand more floods or droughts.
"Climate change is not just an environmental issue, as too many people still believe. It is an all-encompassing threat," he said at the talks, which are seeking ways to extend the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol on fighting climate change beyond 2012.
"While the Kyoto Protocol is a crucial step forward, that step is far too small. And as we consider how to go further still, there remains a frightening lack of leadership," he said.
Annan, a Ghanaian who will step down from his U.N. post in December, did not mention any country by name in his address to environment ministers from about 100 nations.
(More ... Reuters > News > World Crises > Article)
Labels: Annan, Climate Change, Reuters, UN
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