Europe

Following is the text of the address by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva:

It is good that we have observed those minutes of silence together.

We must never forget our collective failure to protect at least 800,000 defenceless men, women and children who perished in Rwanda 10 years ago.

Such crimes cannot be reversed.

Such failures cannot be repaired.

The dead cannot be brought back to life.

So what can we do?

There can be no more important issue, and no more binding obligation, than the prevention of genocide.

Indeed, this may be considered one of the original purposes of the United Nations. The “untold sorrow” which the scourge of war had brought to mankind, at the time when our Organization was established, included genocide on a horrific scale. The words “never again” were on everyone’s lips.

Following is the text of the Nobel Lecture delivered today by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Oslo:

Following is the text of the Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture entitled Dag Hammarskjöld and the 21st Century, delivered by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Uppsala, Sweden:

As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I have given many speeches, and even quite a few lectures. But I can think of no invitation to speak that is a greater honour, or a greater challenge, than this one.

Thank you very much, Vice-Chancellor, for that most generous introduction.

It is a very great pleasure for me to be back in Oxford, and an even greater honour to be asked to give this Lecture, as the official guest of the University.

Following is the text of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's lecture -- on "The Dialogue of Civilizations and the Need for a World Ethic" -- to the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, at the Sheldonian Theatre, in Oxford, England, United Kingdom:

It gives me great pleasure to address this Centre for Islamic Studies. Islam is not only one of the world's great religions. In the course of history it has also been the guiding spirit of more than one great civilization.

Following is the address of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on 31 January:

I am delighted to join you again at the World Economic Forum. This is my third visit in just over two years as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

I have the honour to declare open this United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court.

I wish to acknowledge the generosity of the Italian Government, which is hosting this Conference, as it has done for other landmark United Nations conferences in the past, and to express my appreciation of the strong support given by Italy to the United Nations and its activities in general. We are particularly honoured by the presence of President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro with us today.