Press conference (unofficial transcript)
Press events | Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General
At the same time in Kananaskis at the G8 summit, where President Obasanjo was, as well as myself, the G8 leaders also committed themselves to working with Africa in offering additional development assistance, debt relief, and above all, encouraging investments in Africa.
The question of trade was also discussed. I believe, most of the leaders believe that we would much rather trade than receive development assistance. In fact, if markets are open, and we have free access to the world market, we will gain many times more than the amounts we receive in development assistance.
I would also want to say that the issue of AIDS is still very much with us and is a major tragedy for Africa. But it is not only an African problem. It is a global problem. And we need to maintain the fight. I urge all leaders, African leaders, to speak out and take action against the disease. But leaders cannot do it alone. The entire society would have to get involved and we should engage all sectors of society from community leaders to women's groups to NGOs to youth movements and resist this disease.
I will continue in my own way to encourage the donor community to give as much assistance as they can and African governments have also been encouraged to improve their own budgetary allocation for health. And if we do pool our efforts, we can make a difference.
Yesterday, also here in Abuja, I had lively discussions with business leaders and representatives of non-governmental organizations. These exchanges reminded me once again how important civil society is to a vigorous democracy. And I hope they will continue their efforts.
Let me take your questions.
(Please note the questions were inaudible, The subject of the questions are noted.)
Q: (on the UN Security Council vote on the ICC)
SG: You know there's been quite a lot of discussion on this issue and I myself have made statements on the discussion before the Council. I think the solution that the (Security) Council has come out with, is a decision that is not limited to U.S. troops. It's a decision that applies to peacekeepers and former peacekeepers or civilian personnel from countries that are not signatories to the Rome Treaty. The Council decides that it will recommend to the (International Criminal) Court not to take action for 12 months and declares its intention to extend it for a further period under the same circumstances. I think the discussion in the Council was extremely healthy. What the members were concerned about was to come up with a solution that will respect the charter, will respect the Rome Treaty, and reaffirm the authority of the Council. And I think they managed to do just that.
Q: (on UN sanctions in Liberia)
SG: The Security Council sanctions have not been lifted, but there have been discussions, and I know the West African states have suggested that the sanctions should be lifted or the Council should consider lifting the sanctions. I trust that this is an issue the Council will discuss further and in times, take an appropriate action. I am not sure that the solution to the crisis in Liberia is necessarily more weapons to continue the war. I would urge those involved, including President Taylor, and his government come together to discuss their differences. There have been attempts. I think there have been two or three attempts to bring the parties together to discuss their differences and resolve them and move forward. I think ECOWAS has indicated its willingness to do it and I will do my best to work with them in finding a solution. And so I will not urge that we create conditions where we send in more weapons to Liberia.
Q: (on the SG's meeting with President Obasanjo and the purpose of the SGs visit to Nigeria)
SG: Let me say that I did have a meeting with President Obasanjo and we discussed conflicts around Africa. We discussed the issue of AIDS. We discussed the developments of ECOWAS and the African Union and we discussed issues of direct concern to Nigeria. And we discussed the Nigerian-UN relationship. Obviously you don't expect me to go into details of everything we discussed. If I ever gave all the details of what I discussed with each head of state, next time I meet them, they will only talk to me about their grand children and the weather.
The purpose of my visit here. I do travel around the world: Sometimes to crisis spots where there is a hot crisis to try to see what we can do to try to resolve them. In other situations, as in Nigeria, I talk to leaders about our common efforts to resolve conflicts and what we can do together in the next 12 months to try and resolve the conflict that have afflicted our continent. And I have been stressing all along from Kananaskis to Durban to Sudan and here that the conflicts that afflict Africa, affect all of us. We all have a stake in ensuring that they are resolved. We all have to accept that as long as these crises and wars go on, our region will not be seen as a continent at peace and we are seen as a continent in crisis and deters investors from coming to do business in our part of the world. And it does dissuade even African investors from investing their money. So if we really are going to take off and we are going to make a difference and focus on African development and build our African Union. We must first resolve the conflicts. And you can look at the European experience. In 1945, Europe was devastated. But look at it today. I think part of their progress can be credited to the program of regional integration. But we have to deal with the conflicts first. And the monies that are being spent on weapons and wars today can be diverted to economic and social activities. And I hope that refugees and the internally displaced - the majority of the world's refugees and internally displaced are today in Africa - I hope they can also go home when we are able to end these wars. So these are some of the issues I take up with leaders and also did this morning with President Obasanjo.
Q: (regarding discussion with business leaders in Abuja)
SG: First of all, we are living in an uncertain economic climate throughout the world at the moment. I had a discussion with business leaders and we did discuss the Global Compact, NEPAD, the role of business in society and the need for business to work with government and NGOs in partnership to resolve some of our issues. The business community can play an important role and of course, as I have indicated, the environment which the business operations also makes a difference. And the right regulatory systems, the right institutions, transparent government and systems based on rules of law does help immensely. I think you have dynamic business women and men in this country and I'm confident that the right environment, with the right partnership and with the participation of foreign investors, Nigeria can do very well economically. Of course there's also an agricultural potential which can be exploited.
Q: (on NEPAD and the G8)
SG: You're right that we didn't get everything we looked for in Kananaskis. But we did make some progress. I think the fact that we Africans initiated NEPAD and are determined to produce governments based on rule of law and to establish a mechanism of a peer review group that will monitor and advise each other if things are going wrong, is an important development here. I know there are those who believe that NEPAD is something that is being imposed on Africans by outsiders. I tend to disagree because it was the Africans themselves who initiated NEPAD. And some of the things that we are seeking to do with NEPAD, building strong governments, strong institutions, and rule of law, are things we have to do anyway whether anybody promises us money or not. It is a solid foundation on which societies are built. So we should be happy that our leaders are moving in that direction and I urge civil society, NGOs and the business sector to join in this effort.
On the G8 side, they came out with a G8 Action plan, which I trust most of you have seen. In that Action Plan, they indicated what they would do to support Africa. Obviously, they indicated that their support would go to those countries that are laying solid foundations for strong states. And I think this is something that we may not like, but it is not something that we can disagree with.
As I said in Durban, even if we establish an African Union, for that union to be strong, we need strong states. Only strong states can build a strong union. We cannot skip the need for the development of states and hope to create a strong union. So what NEPAD is doing, I think is the right approach.
Q: (implications on being an African)
SG: I really don't know how to tackle that question. Let me say that as Secretary-General, I have been fortunate to get the support of the member states and the public and whatever little I have achieved, I could not have without your support and the support of the other member states and peoples around the world. And right from the beginning, I stated very clearly that alone I could achieve nothing and reached out to work with others, including the NGOs, the private sector, universities and foundations.
And if I understand the second part of your question, you are seeking to understand if being an African and a black man has impeded me in my work or has given me extra advantages. I think just the fact that I am an African and I feel very much so. My African roots are deep, and I am very proud of those roots. I try to serve all regions. I try to serve Africa as much as I can to get focus on our issues from HIV/AIDS to issues of poverty, issues of governance and the need for reconciliation. But I and you must always bear in mind I am also Secretary-General for all the other regions. Africa is my base but I serve the world.
Q: (on Nigerian elections)
SG: Let me first say that I don't travel around the world to cause excitement. I don't have a candidate in this race. Or s the Americans say, I don't have a horse in this race. But I hope the best candidate wins and I hope that Nigeria will have a democratic change of government and that the people will respect the constitution. And I say this because this is a region, and a country, and a part of the world where these changes have not always been smooth. But it has to be democratic and it has to be smooth. And the people demand peaceful change of government and peaceful elections - not just in Nigeria and all around the world. And the Africans are clamoring for democracy and the rule of law. Today we all refer very frequently to human rights, to democracy, to rule of law and the people are beginning to believe it and they are claiming their rights. And I hope we will and expect there should be free and fair elections here and that Nigeria is well on its way to reaffirming and strengthening its democracy.
Q: (on the World Trade Organization)
A: I think membership in the World Trade Organization is essential. I don't' think the problem is the membership. The problem is, we are going to have a new round of negotiations. How effectively would we Africans and other developing countries organize ourselves to put our point of view across, to press our demands, to ensure that the markets are really open - open to goods coming from the south, open to goods coming from Africa. If and that the subsidies to producers in the north are also reduced, I don't think Africa can refuse to join WTO. I think we should be there to press our demands. We should be there to make our voices heard. I can assure you we are not alone. We have other allies. So the problem is not the membership, the problem is what we do once we get into the negotiations.
Q: (on UN reform)
SG : We have made considerable progress. We have tried to make the organization more effective and more coherent and I think we have had some success. With regard to the Security Council it an issue for member states. The member states have discussed this issue many years and have not been able to come up with a solution. There was a time about four years ago when we thought we were very close. There were discussions of an expanded Security Council with possible 24 members but one could not bring it to closure. And that was not the only problem. There was division among the regions. Take our own region. If Africa were to be given one permanent seat, which country gets it? Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt? Similar problems come up in other regions. So it is a rather complicated and contentious issue. It is still on the agenda of the General Assembly and I suspect it will take several more years before they find a solution. The other thing the UN has done in programmatic terms is to take a look at ourselves and ask the question: What should we be doing? After 50 years of resistance, we have all sorts of activities and programs. And we decided in the year 2000 to bring the member states back to New York and we had 160 heads of states - presidents, prime ministers and kings - to discuss the issue of the UN priorities as we enter a new century, and that is what gave us the Millennium Development Goals , which everyone has embraced - the governments, the financial institutions and the UN. So we all have a common framework for development. A common framework for alleviation of poverty, for improvement of girls' education, sanitation, environment and a whole range of issues. So we are rearranging our efforts to focus on our new priorities. So we've done what in any attempt to improve management, strengthen institutions should do: take a look at your vision, your direction, your program and your priorities where you want to go and take steps to strengthen your own internal systems and to become more effective and efficient. If you want to look at it in the narrow sense, we've done quite a lot, but beyond that he UN is tackling the issues of the day from HIV/AIDS to the issue of poverty, which is on top of our agenda. There are many other achievements, in the past six, seven years that you may want to read about but we don't have time to go through.
Q: (on ICC and Security Council resolution)
SG: I think the decision that the Council took yesterday resolves the conflict. It resolves the conflict in the sense that the Americans themselves backed away from the blanket immunity they were asking for American soldiers and American personnel and the solution that the Council voted on yesterday would. apply to all countries that are not members of the ICC and respects the role of the Council in reviewing the situation and recommending the court not take action for 12 months at a time. It is also taking away the potential conflict that would have ended the UN peacekeeping operation in Bosnia and perhaps in other locations. And so I am satisfied with the solution that the Council has adapted and I don't think there is any risk to peacekeepers nor is it in contradiction with the statutes of the Court.
Thank you. *****