Degree for Annan
Kofi Annan, seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations and the first to be elected from the ranks of the UN staff, is set to receive the degree of Doctor of Civil Law later this month.
On June 19th he is to give a talk at The Sheldonian Theatre, entitled "Why democracy is an international issue". The following day, University Chancellor Lord Jenkins of Hillhead will award an honorary degree to Mr Annan, and eight others.
Annan will become the third Secretary-General of the United Nations to receive an honorary degree from Oxford, following in the footsteps of Dag Hammarskjöld (1961) and Perez de Cuellar (1993).
Annan has worked on and off in the UN since 1961. He took up the appointment as Secretary-General on 1 January 1997, promoting his first major initiative, a plan for reform entitled "Renewing the United Nations". In 1998 his report to the Security Council on "The Causes of Conflict and the Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa" was among several efforts to maintain the international community's commitment to Africa.
During his time in office he has been involved in political situations, including an attempt to gain Iraq's agreement with Security Council resolutions, his aid during the change to civilian rule in Nigeria, and his role in resolving a stalemate between Libya and the Security Council over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
He has also sought to improve the status of women in the Secretariat and build closer partnerships with civil society groups, the private sector and other non-State actors whose strengths complement those of the United Nations.
8th Jun 2001