We Are Responsible for Earth we do not own but Hold in Trust for Future
Generations
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est African born Kofi Atta Annan was the United Nations' seventh
Secretary-General after having moved up the ranks of several international
agencies.
In addition to his work experience, he prepared academically: in economics
from the Kumasi (Ghana) College of Science and Technology (later named Kwame
Nkrumah University of Science and Technology of Ghana) and undergraduate
studies in economics from Macalester College (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA); diplôme
d'études approfondies DEA degree in International Relations from The Graduate
Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva, Switzerland); and graduate
studies in management from the MIT Sloan School of Management (business school
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA). His
service awards are too numerous to count.
After his years as UN Secretary General Annan in 2007 founded and
chaired the Kofi Annan Foundation.
“In most cases the expertise and evidence needed to solve pressing problems such as poverty, armed conflict and poor governance already exist. What holds us back is lack of leadership or political will to identify and deliver solutions.” The Kofi Annan Foundation claims as its mission: the mobilization of “political will to overcome threats to peace, development and human rights.”
Five years after establishing the foundation, Annan served briefly as the
UN–Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria whose stated mission was “to
help find a resolution to the ongoing Syrian conflict.” In 2016, he led “a UN
commission to investigate the Rohingya crisis” in Myanmar.
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emembered with honor and respect the diplomat who rose from West Africa:
Kofi Atta Annan April 8, 1938-August 18, 2018.
Excerpts
from two speeches (2006 and 2018)
Annan’s Lessons
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e are all responsible for each other’s security.
We can and must give everyone the chance to benefit from global prosperity.
Both security and prosperity depend on human rights and the rule of law.
States must be accountable to each other, and to a broad range of non-state actors, in their international conduct.
We can accomplish these only by working together through a multilateral
system, and by making the best possible use of the unique instrument of the
United Nations.
Multi-nation Multilateral Responsibility
“…We have a responsibility not only to our contemporaries but also to future generations – a responsibility to preserve resources that belong to them as well as to us, and without which none of us can survive.
That means we must do much more, and urgently, to prevent or slow down climate change. Every day that we do nothing, or too little, imposes higher costs on our children and our children’s children. …
[I]t reminds me of an African proverb: the earth is not ours but something we hold in trust for future generations. I hope my generation will be worthy of that trust.”
Solidarity
Global solidarity is both necessary and possible. … We are not only all
responsible for each other’s security. We are also, in some measure,
responsible for each other’s welfare.
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… [F]oreign aid by itself is not enough. …; market access, fair terms
of trade, and a non-discriminatory financial system are equally vital to the
chances of poor countries. …” In advanced North American and European countries
and large developing countries “broader national interest” must be placed “above
that of some powerful sectional lobbies.”
“… [W]ithout a measure of solidarity no society can be truly stable, and no one’s prosperity truly secure. … It is not realistic to think that some people can go on deriving great benefits from globalization while billions of their fellow human beings are left in abject poverty, or even thrown into it. We have to give our fellow citizens, not only within each nation but in the global community, at least a chance to share in our prosperity.”
Human Rights and Impartial Rule of Law
The world continues to be divided—not only by economic differences but
also by religion and culture,” which “is not in itself a problem” but “throughout
history human life has been enriched by diversity and different communities
have learned from each other.”
…If our different communities are to live together in peace we must stress also what unites us: our common humanity, and our shared belief that human dignity and rights should be protected by law.
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No community anywhere suffers from too much rule of law. Many suffer
from too little—and the international community is among them. This… must
change.”
“[A]ccountability between states is highly skewed. Poor and weak countries are easily held to account, because they need foreign assistance; but large and powerful states, whose actions have the greatest impact on others, can be constrained only by their own people, working through their domestic institutions.”
The people and institutions of such powerful states, therefore, have “a
special responsibility to take account of global views and interests, as well
as national ones.” Taken into account must be “all the myriad ‘non-state’ forms
in which people come together voluntarily to think about or try to change the
world.”
Annan on Democracy
Though “… growing numbers of citizens in both mature and fledgling
democracies take democracy for granted or doubt its merits …,” Kofi Annan said
in a 2018 speech, “I remain a committed believer in the value of democracy as a
catalyst for better governance, greater security, and human development.”
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he reason for public disenchantment, as evidenced in “lower levels of
voter participation, falling membership of political parties and declining
trust in politicians and institutions,” said “is a perception that democracy is
not delivering.” This is a condition that “creates fertile ground for the rise
of authoritarian leaders.”
Democratic discontent assents to authoritarianism
“There are a number of reasons behind democratic discontent and the
sense that democracy no longer affords citizens a genuine voice in how they are
governed, and by whom:
… Political systems have not kept up with economic developments, creating high levels of inequality and a growing sense of economic disenfranchisement.
…Globalization has brought incredible changes, but its benefits have not been evenly shared: concentrated wealth concentrates political power and influence, creating an unsustainable “imbalance between the economic, social and political realms.” Democracy to be effective “has to be inclusive.”
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acking an essential sense of equality, the quick-acting, decisive “authoritarian
regimes” become “appealing to many, particularly to those living in poverty or
in countries emerging from extended conflict who perceive authoritarianism as
the fastest way up the economic ladder.” But the appearance of stability “often
hides deep and fundamental weaknesses that eventually prove unsustainable.”
Yet despite the conditions of concentrated power and gross inequity,
Annan concludes that citizens still aspire and are attracted to “democratic
governance and democracy’s fundamental values of “equality, inclusion,
accountability, and transparency.”
Nevertheless, he warns that as “new challenges emerge,
new technologies are invented, and as communities evolve and countries and
regions are re-shaped by great and sometimes unforeseen global events— “democracy”
itself, as of society in general, “will always be a work in progress.”
Other Annan Quotes of Note
The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the states in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being.
What governments and people don’t realize is that sometimes the collective interest—the international interest—is also the national interest.
Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development.
Above all else, we need a reaffirmation of political commitment at the highest levels to reducing the dangers that arise both from existing nuclear weapons and from further proliferation.
Well said and Well
done, Kofi Atta Annan
Sources
Wikipedia
Kofi Annan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofi_Annan
Kofi Annan Foundation Mission: “In most cases the expertise and
evidence needed to solve pressing problems such as poverty, armed conflict and
poor governance already exist. What holds us back is lack of leadership or
political will to identify and deliver solutions.” The mission of the Kofi
Annan Foundation is to “mobilize political will to overcome threats to peace,
development and human rights.” https://www.kofiannanfoundation.org/foundation/#our-mission
New York Times transcript “Text: Kofi Annan’s speech - Americas -
International Herald Tribune” December 11, 2006 “Secretary General Kofi Annan’s
address at the Truman Presidential Museum and Library… as supplied by the
United Nations” https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/11/world/americas/11iht-web.1212kofi.3865463.html
Kofi Annan Foundation (speech transcript) “Electoral Integrity,
Speeches, Supporting Elections and Democracy: Is Democracy Under Siege?”
Keynote Address by Kofi Annan at the National Electoral Institute of Mexico
(INE) This speech was given by Kofi Annan on Wednesday May 23, 2018 at the
National Electoral Institute of Mexico (INE) Headquarters in Mexico City,
Mexico https://www.kofiannanfoundation.org/supporting-democracy-and-elections-with-integrity/ine-mexico-democracy-under-siege/
UN News “A ‘charismatic leader’ dedicated to peace: UN officials bid
farewell to former Secretary-General Kofi Annan” “The flag at United Nations
Headquarters in New York is flying at half-mast this Saturday as the
Organization marks the death of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Officials
from across the UN system have been paying tribute to the man who led the
global body for a decade, starting in January 1997. He was Secretary-General during what has been
described as one of the darkest days in the organization’s history: the August 19,
2003 bombing of the UN premises in Baghdad, Iraq.” UN Affairs August 18, 2018
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/08/1017442
UN News “UN mourns death of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, ‘a
guiding force for good’” “The United Nations is mourning the death of former
Secretary-General Kofi Annan who passed away peacefully after a short illness….”
UN Affairs August 18, 2018 http://www.un.org/en/index.html
Brainy Quote https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/kofi_annan
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