Photo: A tribute to Kofi Annan, from his family. In Photo Kofi Annan with his loving family

The state funeral ceremony of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was held in his homeland Ghana on September 13. Several political dignitaries, world leaders and senior officials including UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres were in attendance at the state funeral. Thousands of people filled a large hall in the capital of the Accra country, where Kofi Anan coffin was wrapped in a national flag. In his speech, Secretary General Antonio Guterres conveyed the qualities of Annan as “an extraordinary leader” and “also a man that everyone in the world, those living in extreme poverty, conflict and despondency, could see in him an ally. To the United Nations staff who continues in his footsteps and to the young people, he would say: always remember, you are never too young to lead and you are never too old to learn. ”

Kofi Annan led the United Nations organization from January 1997 to December 2006. He was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with the United Nations in 2001, for “their work for a more organized and peaceful world”. As the leading figure of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, the 7th Secretary General, Kofi Annan became subject of criticism for failing to do enough to prevent the deaths of 800,000 Rwandans during the 1994 genocide and thousands of Muslim men and boys killed in the Srebrenica massacre, Bosnia.

On August 22, at the memorial service held at the United Nation’s New York Headquarters, Secretary-General António Guterres signed the condolence book for Kofi A. Annan and paid tribute to the leadership of the former Secretary-General. A career diplomat and a long term high-ranking official of the organization, Annan encompassed an informed wisdom, considerable experience and an optimistic vision for the future. “DIELLI” is providing some excerpts from Mr. Guterres’ remarks to its readers:

“…Kofi Annan, one of the best of us, a man who embodied the United Nation’s values and made us all proud to call ourselves his colleagues. This is a personal loss for many of us. It is difficult to imagine what a blow it must be to his wife and to his family. Our hearts go out to them. We know how much Kofi meant to the world. I would like to say a few words about what he meant to all of us who work for the United Nations. Kofi Annan’s years in office were an exciting time. He put forward new ideas. He brought new people into the United Nations family. He spoke passionately about our mission and our role. He created a renewed sense of possibility both inside and outside our organization about what the UN could do and could be for the world’s people. Because of his long and varied career in different offices and departments, it sometimes seemed as though Kofi knew everyone personally. But even staff members who never met him, felt a bond with Kofi because he was really one of us.

….in many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations. His most defining features were his humanity and solidarity with those in need. He put people at the center of the work at the United Nations and was able to turn compassion into action across the UN system. We are still reaping the rewards of the millennium summit when he brought the world together to tackle the first global targets of poverty and child mortality. His response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic united governments, non-government organizations and the healthcare industry and undoubtedly saved many lives.

And Kofi Annan faced up to the grave errors made by the United Nations in the 90’s in its response to the Rwanda Genocide and Srebrenica killings by shining a light inside the UN. The reports he commissioned aimed to make sure such terrible mistakes are never repeated and set the international community on a new course in its response to mass atrocities. A true voice for the voiceless, he did not shy away from the most challenging issues but worked creatively to bridge differences and protect the most vulnerable. He stood his ground without antagonizing others. His humility, good humor, courtesy and charm went hand in hand with enormous wisdom and strength. He will always remain vivid in my memory for as long as I live, but not essentially because of the fact that he was an extraordinary statesman, a remarkable diplomat, an inspiring leader, but above all because of his gentleness, of his warmth, of his friendship. He was indeed a good man and a gentleman. And always at our disposal, to support us, to comfort us, to be in full solidarity with us in any difficult moment. Perhaps we can best honor his legacy by recalling his own words delivered at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, and I quote, “Securing real and lasting improvement in the lives of individual men and women is the measure of all we do at the United Nations.”

In these times of growing political divides and intractable conflicts, we need the peacemaking spirit of Kofi Annan more than ever.

After Mr. Guterres speech, Ghana’s Ambassador Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee made her remarks after signing the condolence book. Expressing the pride of a nation for its son, she stated that Mr. Annan was Ghana’s gift to the world.

Kofi Annan and Kosovo – “there are times when the use of force may be legitimate in the pursuit of peace” 1999

As Albanians, we are reminded of his position and role at a critical point of our history, namely, the Kosova war. In 1999, UN Member States led by United States as well as NATO launched a campaign of strikes on Serbia without Security Council authorization. In his statement at the First Peace Conference at the Hague, Mr. Annan conveyed that the renewal of effectiveness and relevance of the Security Council must be the cornerstone of international peace. He raised a question, if Europe at the end of the century can still witness the crimes of Kosovo, “can we be justified in speaking at all of human progress?” In the face of such terrors, such as mass killings and genocide, he said, it is hard not to lose faith in humanity altogether. Mr. Annan criticized the NATO bombing, but recognized that such regional approaches — which lack the worldwide credibility of U.N.-endorsed actions — are bound to continue as long as the Security Council cannot unite.” Then, Secretary General Annan presented the case of Kosovo to address the conflict between the domestic interest and the international security as a major impediment of the Security Council’s role as a peacemaker. “For this much is clear: unless the Security Council is restored to its preeminent position as the sole source of legitimacy on the use of force, we are on a dangerous path to anarchy. But equally importantly, unless the Security Council can unite around the aim of confronting massive human rights violations and crimes against humanity on the scale of Kosovo, then we will betray the very ideals that inspired the founding of the United Nations.” Ever attentive to the lessons that need to be learned, Mr. Annan advised in favor of a “new, more broadly defined, more widely conceived definition of national interest in the new century, which would unite the states in the pursuit of such basic Charter values as democracy, pluralism, human rights and the rule of law.”

Mr. Kofi Annan was the 7th Secretary General of the UN and the first leader of the organization from an African nation.

He admittedly preferred to quote an African proverb that says:

“The world is not ours…. It’s a treasure we hold in trust for future generations.”

To that, he added his own wisdom:

“And I often hope we will be worthy of that trust.”