There has to be a force on the horizon that can come very quickly. But the way we run and fund peacekeeping, this capacity is unavailable.
Kofi AnnanLet us, above all, be clear that, without a convincing program of debt relief to start the new millennium, our objective of halving world poverty by 2015 will be only a pipe dream.
Kofi AnnanWe have to choose between a global market driven only by calculations of short-term profit, and one which has a human face.
Kofi AnnanBeneath the surface of states and nations, ideas and language, lies the fate of individual human beings in need. Answering their needs will be the mission of the United Nations in the century to come.
Kofi AnnanIf you are neutral in a situation where one side is patently being mistreated, the conclusion is that you're siding with this wrong.
Kofi AnnanThe Arab spring reminds me a bit of the decolonisation process where one country gets independence and everybody else wants it. How about us, when do we get it, when do we make our move? And you have a situation where someone has been in power for decades, where the integrity of elections, democracy and security have really not been debated or discussed and most people suspect that elections are rigged and that the democratic rotation that elections are supposed to ensure doesn't really happen. And when this goes on for a while you are sitting on a powder keg.
Kofi Annan