“The force guiding the good”, died, the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has died on 81-m to year of life after a short illness. This was reported on his official Twitter page. One of the most influential secretaries General of the UN in recent decades, Annan is actively engaged in conflict resolution and after the resignation from his post.
Annan comes from a noble family and received a good education in the United States. He began working in the structures of the UN in the early 1960-ies. The diplomat made a successful career and in the middle of 1990-ies became Deputy Secretary-General Boutros-Boutros Ghali. While working in high positions, Kofi Annan has paid particular attention to peacekeeping missions, increasing the contingent of peacekeepers to 70 thousand.
Occupying the post of Secretary General in January 1997, Annan stated the need for reforms in the organization, but to overcome the resistance of the bureaucracy was difficult. While Annan was able to achieve greater efficiency of the UN because of its ability to negotiate, to find common ground with the leaders with opposing views, keeping many of them respectful.
The current UN Secretary-General antónio Guterres, expressing condolences to the family of the deceased, called him “a force that guides good.”
For their peace efforts and initiatives of the diplomat in 2001 he was awarded the Nobel peace prize.
At the same time, the Secretary General has been criticized for commitment to the principle of “responsibility to protect”, which paved the way for the US to use the crises in the States to an armed invasion.
Sam Annan, in turn, defended this principle, believing that it should be used for protection of the population of a particular country from genocide. Who knew Annan say that he could not forgive himself for that UN failed to prevent genocide in Rwanda, which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
In an interview, in 2015 the diplomat told me that thanks to the timely intervention of the UN failed to prevent genocide in Kenya.
“When you see women and children killed, and when you can anticipate how the crisis will probably develop to cover the entire region, you can’t refuse. When you ask for help, you should go out and do your best. If you asked me about the most successful example of the concept of “responsibility to protect”, I would say that this is Kenya”, said Annan, noting that the settlement of the explosive situation of confrontation in the country has helped the efforts of the African Union, Russia, the US and the EU.
At the same time, Annan was known as a tough opponent of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Speaking at the Munich security conference, he said that one of the reasons of destabilization in the middle East was the attack in 2003 on this country.
After the resignation of the diplomat continued to engage in the settlement of international conflicts was the special envoy of the UN and the League of Arab States (LAS) in Syria in 2012. According to the plan of former UN Secretary General, the parties to the conflict was to establish a transitional government towards a democratic legal state in the future. However, despite the positive ideas contained in the plan, it was not implemented.
Under the leadership of Annan, was also prepared a detailed report on the situation in Myanmar, where there was a severe conflict between the local population, supported by the authorities and Muslim Rohingya ethnic and religious minority of the country. In a report published at the end of August 2017, experts under his leadership came to the conclusion that one of the main problems is the lack of local residents not only citizenship, but in General any legal status.
Worked with Annan, diplomats remember that his analytical skills and wisdom helped to find solutions in difficult situations. Annan himself in an interview with Bi-bi-si, after the resignation lamented that the world is not enough “heads sober and calm analysis.”
Without naming names, Annan observed: in order to prevent the deterioration of the situation in the world, “we must not allow leaders to threaten war on TV or Twitter.”
The rigidity and professionalism of a diplomat combined with Annan, with charm, which is always noted by the interlocutors. In 2001, he did not hesitate, accepted the invitation to participate in the American children’s educational program “sesame Street”, where with pleasure has answered questions of her characters. In an interview, the diplomat told how he was mistaken for actor Morgan Freeman, and he even jokingly gave autographs, signing for a Hollywood star.