2 October 2008 at 18.30 Lund University Hall
Welcome address Professor Göran Bexell Vice-Chancellor of Lund University
Address Ambassador Jan Eliasson former Minister for Foreign Affairs Chairman of the Anna Lindh Memorial Fund
Establishing a Culture of Prevention Dr. Kofi A. Annan former Secretary-General of the United Nations
Concluding address Ambassador Hans Corell former Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel of the United Nations Chairman of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute Board
Establishing a Culture of Prevention (click to open the speech as a pdf document)
Kofi A. Annan
Kofi A. Annan of Ghana, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, served from 1997 to 2006 and was the first to emerge from the ranks of United Nations staff. Mr. Annan was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize for Peace jointly with the United Nations.
One of Mr. Annan’s main priorities as Secretary-General was a comprehensive programme of reform aimed at revitalizing the United Nations and making the international system more effective. He was a constant advocate for human rights, the rule of law, the Millennium Development Goals and Africa, and sought to bring the organization closer to the global public by forging ties with civil society, the private sector and other partners.
At Mr. Annan’s initiative, UN peacekeeping was strengthened in ways that enabled the United Nations to cope with a rapid rise in the number of operations and personnel. It was also at Mr. Annan’s urging that, in 2005, member States established two new intergovernmental bodies: the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council.
Since leaving the United Nations, Mr. Annan has continued to advocate for better policies to meet the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly in Africa. Mr. Annan serves as the President of the Global Humanitarian Forum and chairs several other initiatives: the Africa Progress Panel, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa and the Prize Committee of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.
In 1999, the Faculty of Law at Lund University conferred an honorary doctorate on Kofi A. Annan.