Kofi Annan Fighting Against AIDS

The Secretary-General has strengthened partnerships with civil society, the private sector and others outside of

government whose strengths complement those of the UN. He has called for a "Global Compact" to encourage

businesses to respect standards relating to the environment, employment laws and human rights. In April, 2000, he

issued a report on the UN's role in the 21st century, outlining actions needed to end poverty and inequality, improve

education, cut HIV/AIDS, safeguard the environment and protect peoples from violence. The report formed the basis

of the Millennium Declarations adopted by national leaders attending the UN Millennium Summit that September.

Calling the HIV/AIDS epidemic his "personal priority", the Secretary- General issued a "Call to Action" in April, 2001,

proposing the establishment of a Global AIDS and Health Fund, which has since received some $ 1.5 billion in pledges

and contributions.

Kofi Annan In UN

Mr. Annan joined the UN in 1962, working for the World Health Organization in Geneva, where he later also served with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. At UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Annan held senior positions in a diverse range of areas, including human resources management (1987-1990), budget and finance (1990-1992), and peacekeeping (March 1992-December 1996). He was Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping at a time when nearly 70,000 military and civilian personnel were deployed in UN operations around the world.

Before becoming Secretary-General, Mr. Annan received a number of special assignments. In 1990, he facilitated the repatriation of international staff and citizens of Western countries from Iraq after it invaded Kuwait. He subsequently led initial negotiations with Baghdad on the sale of oil to fund humanitarian relief. From November 1995 to March 1996, Mr. Annan served as the Secretary-General's Special Representative to the former Yugoslavia. As Secretary-General, Mr. Annan has used his good offices in several delicate political situations, including an attempt in 1998 to gain Iraq's compliance with Security Council resolutions, as well as a mission that year to promote the transition to civilian rule in Nigeria. In 1999, he helped to resolve the stalemate between Libya and the Security Council, and to forge an international response to violence in East Timor. In 2000, he certified Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon. Since the renewed outbreak of violence in the Middle East in September 2000, he has worked to encourage Israelis and Palestinians to resolve their differences through negotiations based on Security Council resolutions and the principle of "land for peace".

Kofi Annan - Education

From 1954 to 1957, Annan attended the elite Mfantsipim school, a Methodist boarding school in Cape Coast founded in the 1870s. Annan has said that the school taught him "that suffering anywhere concerns people everywhere". In 1957, the year Annan graduated from Mfantsipim, Ghana became the first British colony in Sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence.

Mr. Annan studied at the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi and completed his undergraduate work in economics at Macalester College in the United States in 1961. From 1961 to 1962, he undertook graduate studies in economics at the Institut universitaire des hautes études internationales in Geneva. As a 1971- 1972 Sloan Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mr. Annan received a Master of Science degree in management.

Profile of Kofi Annan

Seventh Secretary General Of United Nation

Name: Kofi Atta Annan

Date Of Birth: 8th April 1938

Born On: Kumasi, Ghana

Spouse: Titi Alakija(Diverse), Nane Maria Annan

In Office Since: January 1, 1997.

Preceeded By: Boutros Bhoutros Ghali

Succeeded By: Bon Ki Moon

Parents: Henry Reginald Annan and Victoria