Six months before the end of his current mandate, Kofi Annan, a native of Ghana, was unanimously appointed today by the General Assembly for a second five-year term as Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Following a unanimous action by the General Assembly to appoint Kofi Annan to a second term as United Nations Secretary-General, representatives of various regional groups at the world body voiced their strong support for the UN leader, praising his personal integrity and dedication, as well as his professional qualities of a consummate negotiator and reform-minded manager.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan will be in Philadelphia on 4 July, United States Independence Day, to receive the city's 2001 Liberty Medal, along with a $100,000 cash award that he has pledged to the Global AIDS and Health Fund, a UN spokesman confirmed today.
The United Nations Security Council this morning unanimously recommended Kofi Annan, a native of Ghana who five years ago became the first UN staff member to serve as Secretary-General, to a second term at the Organization's helm.
Beginning the official part of his current visit to the United Kingdom, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today discussed world hotspots with the country's leaders, who endorsed his bid for a second term at the helm of the United Nations.
On the third day of his visit to the United Kingdom, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today received an honorary law degree from Oxford University, which hailed him as "a far-sighted partisan of justice and a tireless advocate of peace."
Calling democracy an "international issue," Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that open and accountable governments are less likely to use force - at least against States with similarly open systems.
Reacting to the suicide bombing in Israel, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has deplored the "horrible" act, which, he said, only underscored the pressing need to cut the chain of violence in the region.
