Kofi Annan

Thank you very much, Madam President.

Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am deeply honoured and truly touched by the words you have spoken. After ten wonderful years as Secretary-General, it is humbling to be recognized for simply doing what you love to do.

It is a great pleasure to send my warmest greetings to the Heads of State and Government and others gathered in Nairobi for this important Summit. I thank President Kibaki and the Government and people of Kenya for hosting this event. I also pay tribute to Chairman Konaré and President Nguesso for their leadership of the African Union, their support for this conference, and their tireless efforts to bring peace to a troubled region.

The Secretary-General is pleased that the Human Rights Council has taken robust action to address the grave human rights situation in Darfur. He welcomes the Council's resolution, adopted by consensus, to dispatch a high-level mission to Darfur, composed of highly qualified individuals to be appointed by the President of the Council. The decision of the Human Rights Council sends a united message that the ongoing violence and killing in Darfur is unacceptable and must stop.

For most people in this room, today marks an important event: the day the General Assembly adopts the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. But for 650 million persons around the world living with disabilities, today promises to be the dawn of a new era -- an era in which disabled people will no longer have to endure the discriminatory practices and attitudes that have been permitted to prevail for all too long.

It is with deep regret, and with profound gratitude for his tireless efforts, that I have accepted the resignation of Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland.

I am glad that you are holding this special session to address a crisis that demands the full attention of the international community. I am only sorry that I can't be with you in person.

Thank you very much, Mr. President,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me start by thanking you for giving me the opportunity to present my report on the Middle East, and we are happy to see you here Mr. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister [Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr Al-Thani.]

As I told the General Assembly in September, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not just one regional conflict amongst many. No other conflict carries such a powerful symbolic and emotional charge even for people far away.