Secretary-General to speak at Georgetown conference on his legacy in Africa

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will be guest speaker at Georgetown University on Monday when he is expected to explain how “Africa is in a defining struggle for its destiny” and needs the international community’s assistance, said his spokesman today.

Mr. Annan will give this year’s annual Oliver Tambo lecture. The following morning he will address a two-day conference, organized by the university’s African Studies Program that will bring together academics and Africa specialists to assess Secretary-General’s legacy in Africa, Stephane Dujarric told the noon news briefing.

“With unprecedented vigour and resolve, its people are addressing the gravest challenges confronting their continent [and] today, they need the international community to work with them and invest in them, to ensure the better future that can and must be Africa’s,” Mr. Dujarric said, outlining Mr. Annan’s message.

A Ghanaian, Mr. Annan has served 10 years as the UN’s seventh Secretary-General and is set to retire 31 December 2006.

Oliver Tambo, a life-long leader in the African National Congress’s anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, died in 1993.

The Georgetown lecture is expected to attract over 300 leading Africa experts. Past speakers for the Oliver Tambo Lecture Series have included the President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.