The current Secretary-General of the UN is Kofi Annan. He was born in Ghana, on the 8th of April 1938, and assumed his current post in January 1997, and was reappointed in January 2001. His career highlights have been a mission to ensure transfer to democratic rule in Nigeria in 1998, brokering an agreement between Libya and the UN's security council concerning responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing in 1999 and he organised an international response to the crisis in East Timor in the same year. In 2000, he secured the certification of Israel's withdrawal from the Lebanon and he made, and has continued to make, strong efforts to encourage peaceful negotiations between Israel and Palestinian hard - liners.
For over a year now, his most prominent concern has been the lead-up to and helping his organisation cope with war in Iraq. While remaining strictly neutral in the conflict himself, he made strong efforts to try and ensure the continuation of weapons inspections under Hans Blix in the prelude to the conflict. This was so that a clear conclusion could be made over whether or not Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, had been developing so-called weapons of mass destruction, and whether or not he posed a threat to international security. However, the US and UK did not allow these inspections to run through to completion, and invaded Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein based upon their own intelligence and foreign policy stances. They were supported by Australia, Spain and Poland, as well as what some would call a "coalition" of moral backers. .
Despite some suggestions that the UN is becoming irrelevant and may be another League of Nations and so should be dissolved, or at least certain countries should withdraw membership, (emanating particularly from the American right), Kofi Annan has maintained the organisation's coherence and credibility and is continuing make concerted efforts to avoid international conflict, and to promote peace and cooperation between nations.
