A nation has the right to defend itself, but when it comes to the broader issue of peace and security, the legitimacy rests only with the Security Council. Kofi Annan More Quotes by Kofi Annan More Quotes From Kofi Annan There are a great number of peoples who need more than just words of sympathy from the international community. They need a real and sustained commitment to help end their cycles of violence, and launch them on a safe passage to prosperity. Kofi Annan real numbers commitment Insecurity is love dressed in a child's clothing. Kofi Annan clothings insecurity children In the past we could afford a long gestation period before undertaking major environmental policy initiatives. Today the time for a well-planned transition to a sustainable system is running out. We may be moving in the right direction, but we are moving too slowly. We are failing in our responsibility to future generations and even the present one. Kofi Annan responsibility running moving Perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol. Kofi Annan montreal successful agreement You can do a lot with diplomacy, but with diplomacy backed up by force you can get a lot more done. Kofi Annan diplomacy force done Not only do these abominable weapons lie buried in silence and in their millions waiting to kill or maim innocent women and children; but the presence or even the fear of the presence of a single landmine can prevent the cultivation of an entire field, rob a whole village of its livelihood, place yet another obstacle on a country's road to reconstruction and development Kofi Annan country lying children We often hear a lot about subsidies, because it's often the powerful talking about the poor; the poor don't have enough voice to question the privileges. Kofi Annan voice powerful talking We have seen recently, almost every major head of state goes to India and says, we believe India should be in the Council. They go back home and do nothing about it. But this cannot be sustained for long. If they want to keep the UN as a global forum where they discuss incidents and take some meaningful decisions, they should [reform]. Kofi Annan home meaningful believe I think the US and UK thought if they gave a bit more time to Israel, they would crush Hezbollah. But it became very obvious that was an unwinnable war. Kofi Annan crush war thinking Landmines are among the most barbaric weapons of war, because they continue to kill and maim innocent people long after the war itself has ended. Also, fear of them keeps people off the land, and thus prevents them from growing food. Kofi Annan land war long I urge the Iraqi leadership for sake of its own people... to seize this opportunity and thereby begin to end the isolation and suffering of the Iraqi people. Kofi Annan suffering opportunity people As I travel around the world, people think the only place where there is potential conflict [over] water is the Middle East, but they are completely wrong. We have the problem all over the world. Kofi Annan water people thinking The fight against HIV/AIDS requires leadership from all parts of government - and it needs to go right to the top. AIDS is far more than a health crisis. It is a threat to development itself. Kofi Annan hiv government fighting The reality is that no group of countries has any grounds for complacency about its own human rights performance and no group of countries does itself justice by automatically slipping into the "victim" mode . . . . Kofi Annan rights country reality Usually, when you look around the world, people are killing each other, fighting over scarce resources. Kofi Annan fighting people looks Invite politicians to dinner and let them tell the world how delicious it is. . . . They will proudly go around and say, 'I ate crickets, I ate locusts, and they were delicious.' Kofi Annan dinner politician world Under international law, the responsibility for protecting civilians in conflict falls on the belligerents. Under military occupation, responsibility for the welfare of the population falls on the occupiers. Kofi Annan military responsibility fall National markets are held together by shared values and confidence in certain minimum standards. But in the new global market, people do not yet have that confidence. Kofi Annan standards together people All our efforts to defeat poverty and pursue sustainable development will be in vain if environmental degradation and natural resource depletion continue unabated. Kofi Annan environmental degradation effort Revolution by its nature can not be overly programmed or directed. There are so many forces at work that you don't know where and how it all ends. Kofi Annan force revolution ends
