#Secretariat Service Association strike

[townpostin]

Jharkhand Secretariat Staff to Strike, Demands Reforms

Three-day mass leave planned as 1,000 employees protest government inaction Secretariat Service Association members will go on mass leave from Sept. 10-12, pressing for a six-point charter of demands. RANCHI – Secretariat and Directorate work will be suspended as staff plan a three-day mass leave to push for reforms. The Secretariat Service Association (SSA) has announced a mass leave from…

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.1 (1870-1950)

Minister of Canada. This date is commemorated annually in Canada as Canada Day, a national holiday. 1870 – The United States Department of Justice formally comes into existence. 1873 – Prince Edward Island joins into Canadian Confederation. 1874 – The Sholes and Glidden typewriter, the first commercially successful typewriter, goes on sale. 1878 – Canada joins the Universal Postal Union. 1879 – Charles Taze Russell publishes the first edition of the religious magazine The Watchtower. 1881 – The world's first international telephone call is made between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, and Calais, Maine, United States. 1881 – General Order 70, the culmination of the Cardwell and Childers reforms of the British Army, comes into effect. 1885 – The United States terminates reciprocity and fishery agreement with Canada. 1885 – The Congo Free State is established by King Leopold II of Belgium. 1890 – Canada and Bermuda are linked by telegraph cable. 1898 – Spanish–American War: The Battle of San Juan Hill is fought in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. 1901 – French government enacts its anti-clerical legislation Law of Association prohibiting the formation of new monastic orders without governmental approval. 1903 – Start of first Tour de France bicycle race. 1908 – SOS is adopted as the international distress signal. 1911 – Germany despatches the gunship SMS Panther to Morocco, sparking the Agadir Crisis. 1915 – Leutnant Kurt Wintgens of the then-named German Deutsches Heer's Fliegertruppe army air service achieves the first known aerial victory with a synchronized machine-gun armed fighter plane, the Fokker M.5K/MG Eindecker. 1916 – World War I: First day on the Somme: On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 19,000 soldiers of the British Army are killed and 40,000 wounded. 1917 – Chinese General Zhang Xun seizes control of Beijing and restores the monarchy, installing Puyi, last emperor of the Qing dynasty, to the throne. The restoration is reversed just shy of two weeks later, when Republican troops regain control of the capital. 1921 – The Chinese Communist Party is founded by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, with the help of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks), who seized power in Russia after the 1917 October Revolution, and the Far Eastern Secretariat of the Communist International. 1922 – The Great Railroad Strike of 1922 begins in the United States. 1923 – The Parliament of Canada suspends all Chinese immigration. 1931 – United Airlines begins service (as Boeing Air Transport). 1931 – Wiley Post and Harold Gatty become the first people to circumnavigate the globe in a single-engined monoplane aircraft. 1932 – Australia's national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, was formed. 1935 – Regina, Saskatchewan, police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police ambush strikers participating in the On-to-Ottawa Trek. 1942 – World War II: First Battle of El Alamein. 1942 – The Australian Federal Government becomes the sole collector of income tax in Australia as State Income Tax is abolished. 1943 – The City of Tokyo and the Prefecture of Tokyo are both replaced by the Tokyo Metropolis. 1946 – Crossroads Able is the first postwar nuclear weapon test. 1947 – The Philippine Air Force is established. 1948 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Quaid-i-Azam) inaugurates Pakistan's central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan. 1949 – The merger of two princely states of India, Cochin and Travancore, into the state of Thiru-Kochi (later re-organized as Kerala) in the Indian Union ends more than 1,000 years of princely rule by the Cochin royal family.

[blackkudos]

Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 1938 – 18 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as chairman of The Elders, an international organization founded by Nelson Mandela.

Annan studied economics at Macalester College, international relations at the Graduate Institute Geneva, and management at MIT. Annan joined the UN in 1962, working for the World Health Organization's Geneva office. He went on to work in several capacities at the UN Headquarters including serving as the Under-Secretary-General for peacekeeping between March 1992 and December 1996. He was appointed the Secretary-General on 13 December 1996 by the Security Council, and later confirmed by the General Assembly, making him the first office holder to be elected from the UN staff itself. He was re-elected for a second term in 2001, and was succeeded as Secretary-General by Ban Ki-moon on 1 January 2007.

As the Secretary-General, Annan reformed the UN bureaucracy; worked to combat HIV/AIDS, especially in Africa; and launched the UN Global Compact. He was criticized for not expanding the Security Council and faced calls for his resignation after an investigation into the Oil-for-Food Programme, but was largely exonerated of personal corruption. After the end of his term as UN Secretary-General, he founded the Kofi Annan Foundation in 2007 to work on international development. In 2012, Annan was the UN–Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria, to help find a resolution to the ongoing conflict there. Annan quit after becoming frustrated with the UN's lack of progress with regards to conflict resolution. In September 2016, Annan was appointed to lead a UN commission to investigate the Rohingya crisis.

Early years and education

Kofi Annan was born in the Kofandros section of Kumasi in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) on 8 April 1938. His twin sister Efua Atta, who died in 1991, shared the middle name Atta, which in the Akan language means 'twin'. Annan and his sister were born into one of the country's Ashanti and Fante aristocratic families; both of their grandfathers and their uncle were tribal chiefs.

In the Akan names tradition, some children are named according to the day of the week on which they were born, sometimes in relation to how many children precede them. Kofi in Akan is the name that corresponds with Friday. Annan said that his surname rhymes with "cannon" in English.

From 1954 to 1957, Annan attended the elite Mfantsipim school, a Methodist boarding school in Cape Coast founded in the 1870s. Annan said that the school taught him that "suffering anywhere, concerns people everywhere". In 1957, the year Annan graduated from Mfantsipim, the Gold Coast gained independence from the UK and began using the name "Ghana".

In 1958, Annan began studying economics at the Kumasi College of Science and Technology, now the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology of Ghana. He received a Ford Foundation grant, enabling him to complete his undergraduate studies in economics at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States, in 1961. Annan then completed a diplôme d'études approfondies DEA degree in International Relations at The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1961–62. After some years of work experience, he studied at the MIT Sloan School of Management (1971–72) in the Sloan Fellows program and earned a master's degree in management.

Annan was fluent in English, French, Akan, and some Kru languages as well as other African languages.

Career

In 1962, Kofi Annan started working as a budget officer for the World Health Organization, an agency of the United Nations (UN). From 1974 to 1976, he worked as a manager of the state-owned Ghana Tourist Development Company in Accra. In 1980 he became the head of personnel for the office of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva. In 1983 he became the director of administrative management services of the UN Secretariat in New York. In 1987, Annan was appointed as an Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management and Security Coordinator for the UN system. In 1990, he became Assistant Secretary-General for Program Planning, Budget and Finance, and Control.

When Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali established the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in 1992, Annan was appointed to the new department as Deputy to then Under-Secretary-General Marrack Goulding. Annan was subsequently appointed in March 1993 as Under-Secretary-General of that department. On 29 August 1995, while Boutros-Ghali was unreachable on an airplane, Annan instructed United Nations officials to "relinquish for a limited period of time their authority to veto air strikes in Bosnia." This move allowed NATO forces to conduct Operation Deliberate Force and made him a favorite of the United States. According to Richard Holbrooke, Annan's "gutsy performance" convinced the United States that he would be a good replacement for Boutros-Ghali.

He was appointed a Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the former Yugoslavia, serving from November 1995 to March 1996.

Criticism

In 2003, retired Canadian General Roméo Dallaire, who was force commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda, claimed that Annan was overly passive in his response to the imminent genocide. In his book Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda (2003), Dallaire asserted that Annan held back UN troops from intervening to settle the conflict, and from providing more logistical and material support. Dallaire claimed that Annan failed to provide responses to his repeated faxes asking for access to a weapons depository; such weapons could have helped Dallaire defend the endangered Tutsis. In 2004, ten years after the genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people were killed, Annan said, "I could and should have done more to sound the alarm and rally support."

In his book Interventions: A Life in War and Peace, Annan again argued that the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations could have made better use of the media to raise awareness of the violence in Rwanda and put pressure on governments to provide the troops necessary for an intervention. Annan explained that the events in Somalia and the collapse of the UNOSOM II mission fostered a hesitation among UN Member states to approve robust peacekeeping operations. As a result, when the UNAMIR mission was approved just days after the battle, the resulting force lacked the troop levels, resources and mandate to operate effectively.

Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997–2006)

Appointment

In 1996, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali ran unopposed for a second term. Although he won 14 of the 15 votes on the Security Council, he was vetoed by the United States. After four deadlocked meetings of the Security Council, Boutros-Ghali suspended his candidacy, becoming the only Secretary-General ever to be denied a second term. Annan was the leading candidate to replace him, beating Amara Essy by one vote in the first round. However, France vetoed Annan four times before finally abstaining. The UN Security Council recommended Annan on 13 December 1996. Confirmed four days later by the vote of the General Assembly, he started his first term as Secretary-General on 1 January 1997.

Due to Boutros-Ghali's overthrow, a second Annan term would give Africa the office of Secretary-General for three consecutive terms. In 2001, the Asia-Pacific Group agreed to support Annan for a second term in return for the African Group's support for an Asian Secretary-General in the 2006 selection. The Security Council recommended Annan for a second term on 27 June 2001, and the General Assembly approved his reappointment on 29 June 2001.

ActivitiesRecommendations for UN reform

Soon after taking office in 1997, Annan released two reports on management reform. On 17 March 1997, the report Management and Organisational Measures (A/51/829) introduced new management mechanisms through the establishment of a cabinet-style body to assist him and be grouping the UN's activities in accordance with four core missions. A comprehensive reform agenda was issued on 14 July 1997 entitled Renewing the United Nations: A Programme for Reform (A/51/950). Key proposals included the introduction of strategic management to strengthen unity of purpose, the establishment of the position of Deputy Secretary-General, a 10-percent reduction in posts, a reduction in administrative costs, the consolidation of the UN at the country level, and reaching out to civil society and the private sector as partners. Annan also proposed to hold a Millennium Summit in 2000.After years of research, Annan presented a progress report, In Larger Freedom, to the UN General Assembly, on 21 March 2005. Annan recommended Security Council expansion and a host of other UN reforms.

On 31 January 2006, Annan outlined his vision for a comprehensive and extensive reform of the UN in a policy speech to the United Nations Association UK. The speech, delivered at Central Hall, Westminster, also marked the 60th Anniversary of the first meetings of the General Assembly and Security Council.

On 7 March 2006, he presented to the General Assembly his proposals for a fundamental overhaul of the United Nations Secretariat. The reform report is entitled Investing in the United Nations, For a Stronger Organization Worldwide.

On 30 March 2006, he presented to the General Assembly his analysis and recommendations for updating the entire work programme of the United Nations Secretariat. The reform report is entitled: Mandating and Delivering: Analysis and Recommendations to Facilitate the Review of Mandates.

Regarding the UN Human Rights Council, Annan said "declining credibility" had "cast a shadow on the reputation of the United Nations system. Unless we re-make our human rights machinery, we may be unable to renew public confidence in the United Nations itself." However, he did believe that, despite its flaws, the council could do good.

In March 2000, Annan appointed the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations to assess the shortcomings of the then existing system and to make specific and realistic recommendations for change. The panel was composed of individuals experienced in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace-building. The report it produced, which became known as the Brahimi Report, after Chair of the Panel Lakhdar Brahimi, called for:

renewed political commitment on the part of Member States;

significant institutional change;

increased financial support.

The Panel further noted that in order to be effective, UN peacekeeping operations must be properly resourced and equipped, and operate under clear, credible and achievable mandates. In a letter transmitting the report to the General Assembly and Security Council, Annan stated that the Panel's recommendations were essential to make the United Nations truly credible as a force for peace. Later that same year, the Security Council adopted several provisions relating to peacekeeping following the report, in Resolution 1327.

Millennium Development Goals

In 2000, Annan issued a report entitled: "We the peoples: the role of the United Nations in the 21st century". The report called for member states to "put people at the centre of everything we do. No calling is more noble, and no responsibility greater, than that of enabling men, women and children, in cities and villages around the world, to make their lives better".

In the final chapter of the report, Annan called to "free our fellow men and women from the abject and dehumanizing poverty in which more than 1 billion of them are currently confined".:77

At the Millennium Summit in September 2000, national leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration, which was subsequently implemented by the United Nations Secretariat as the Millennium Development Goals in 2001.

United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS)

Within the "We the Peoples" document, Annan suggested the establishment of a United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS), a consortium of high-tech volunteer corps, including NetCorps Canada and Net Corps America, which United Nations Volunteers would co-ordinate. In the Report of the high-level panel of experts on information and communication technology (22 May 2000) suggesting a UN ICT Task Force, the panel welcomed the establishment of UNITeS, and made suggestions on its configuration and implementation strategy, including that ICT4D volunteering opportunities make mobilizing "national human resources" (local ICT experts) within developing countries a priority, for both men and women. The initiative was launched at the United Nations Volunteers and was active from February 2001 to February 2005. Initiative staff and volunteers participated in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva in December 2003.

The United Nations Global Compact

In an address to The World Economic Forum on 31 January 1999, Secretary-General Annan argued that the "goals of the United Nations and those of business can, indeed, be mutually supportive" and proposed that the private sector and the United Nations initiate "a global compact of shared values and principles, which will give a human face to the global market".

On 26 July 2000, the United Nations Global Compact was officially launched at UN headquarters in New York. It is a principle-based framework for businesses which aims to "Catalyse actions in support of broader UN goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)". The Compact established ten core principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption, and under the Compact, companies commit to the ten principles and are brought together with UN agencies, labour groups and civil society to effectively implement them.

Establishment of The Global Fund

Towards the end of the 1990s, increased awareness of the destructive potential of epidemics such as HIV/AIDS pushed public health issues to the top of the global development agenda. In April 2001, Annan issued a five-point "Call to Action" to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Stating it was a "personal priority", Annan proposed the establishment of a Global AIDS and Health Fund, "dedicated to the battle against HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases" to stimulate the increased international spending needed to help developing countries confront the HIV/AIDS crisis. In June of that year, the General Assembly of the United Nations committed to the creation of such a fund during a special session on AIDS, and the permanent secretariat of the Global Fund was subsequently established in January 2002.

Responsibility to Protect

Following the failure of Annan and the International Community to intervene in the genocide in Rwanda and in Srebrenica, Annan asked whether the international community had an obligation in such situations to intervene to protect civilian populations. In a speech to the General Assembly on 20 September 1999 "to address the prospects for human security and intervention in the next century," Annan argued that individual sovereignty—the protections afforded by the Declaration of Human Rights and the Charter of the UN—was being strengthened, while the notion of state sovereignty was being redefined by globalization and international co-operation. As a result, the UN and its member states had to consider a willingness to act to prevent conflict and civilian suffering, a dilemma between "two concepts of sovereignty" that Annan also presented in a preceding article in The Economist, on 16 September 1999.

In September 2001 the Canadian government established an ad-hoc committee to address this balance between state sovereignty and humanitarian intervention. The International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty published its final report in 2001, which focused on not on the right of states to intervene but a responsibility to protect populations at risk. The report moved beyond the question of military intervention, arguing that a range of diplomatic and humanitarian actions could also be utilized to protect civilian populations.

In 2005, Annan included the doctrine of "Responsibility to Protect" in his report Larger Freedom. When that report was endorsed by the UN General Assembly, it amounted to the first formal endorsement by UN Member States of the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect.

Iraq

In the years after 1998 when UNSCOM was expelled by the government of Saddam Hussein and during the Iraq disarmament crisis, in which the United States blamed UNSCOM and former IAEA director Hans Blix for failing to properly disarm Iraq, former UNSCOM chief weapons inspector Scott Ritter blamed Annan for being slow and ineffective in enforcing Security Council resolutions on Iraq and was overtly submissive to the demands of the Clinton administration for regime removal and inspection of sites, often Presidential palaces, that were not mandated in any resolution and were of questionable intelligence value, severely hampering UNSCOM's ability to co-operate with the Iraqi government and contributed to their expulsion from the country. Ritter also claimed that Annan regularly interfered with the work of the inspectors and diluted the chain of command by trying to micromanage all of the activities of UNSCOM, which caused intelligence processing (and the resulting inspections) to be backed up and caused confusion with the Iraqis as to who was in charge and as a result, they generally refused to take orders from Ritter or Rolf Ekéus without explicit approval from Annan, which could have taken days, if not weeks. He later believed that Annan was oblivious to the fact the Iraqis took advantage of this in order to delay inspections. He claimed that on one occasion, Annan refused to implement a no-notice inspection of the SSO headquarters and instead tried to negotiate access, but the negotiation ended up taking nearly six weeks, giving the Iraqis more than enough time to clean out the site.

During the build-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Annan called on the United States and the United Kingdom not to invade without the support of the United Nations. In a September 2004 interview on the BBC, when questioned about the legal authority for the invasion, Annan said he believed it was not in conformity with the UN charter and was illegal.

Other diplomatic activities

In 1998, Annan was deeply involved in supporting the transition from military to civilian rule in Nigeria. The following year, he supported the efforts of East Timor to secure independence from Indonesia. In 2000, he was responsible for certifying Israel 's withdrawal from Lebanon, and in 2006, he led talks in New York between the presidents of Cameroon and Nigeria which led to a settlement of the dispute between the two countries over the Bakassi peninsula.

Annan and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad disagreed sharply on Iran's nuclear program, on an Iranian exhibition of cartoons mocking the Holocaust, and on the then upcoming International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust, an Iranian Holocaust denial conference in 2006. During a visit to Iran instigated by continued Iranian uranium enrichment, Annan said "I think the tragedy of the Holocaust is an undeniable historical fact and we should really accept that fact and teach people what happened in World War II and ensure it is never repeated."

Annan supported sending a UN peacekeeping mission to Darfur, Sudan. He worked with the government of Sudan to accept a transfer of power from the African Union peacekeeping mission to a UN one. Annan also worked with several Arab and Muslim countries on women's rights and other topics.

Beginning in 1998, Annan convened an annual UN "Security Council Retreat" with the 15 States' representatives of the Council. It was held at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) Conference Center at the Rockefeller family estate in Pocantico Hills, New York, and was sponsored by both the RBF and the UN.

Lubbers sexual-harassment investigation

In June 2004, Annan was given a copy of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) report on the complaint brought by four female workers against Ruud Lubbers, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, for sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and retaliation. The report also reviewed a long-serving staff member's allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against Werner Blatter, Director of UNHCR Personnel. The investigation found Lubbers guilty of sexual harassment; no mention was made publicly of the other charge against a senior official, or two subsequent complaints filed later that year. In the course of the official investigation, Lubbers wrote a letter which some considered was a threat to the female worker who had brought the charges. On 15 July 2004, Annan cleared Lubbers of the accusations, saying they were not substantial enough legally. The internal UN-OIOS report on Lubbers was leaked, and sections accompanied by an article by Kate Holt were published in a British newspaper. In February 2005, Lubbers resigned as head of the UN refugee agency, saying that he wanted to relieve political pressure on Annan.

Oil-for-Food scandal

In December 2004, reports surfaced that the Secretary-General's son Kojo Annan received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna Inspection SA, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Programme. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations. On 11 November 2005, The Sunday Times agreed to apologise and pay a substantial sum in damages to Kojo Annan, accepting that the allegations were untrue.

Annan appointed the Independent Inquiry Committee, which was led by former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, then the director of the United Nations Association of the US. In his first interview with the Inquiry Committee, Annan denied having had a meeting with Cotecna. Later in the inquiry, he recalled that he had met with Cotecna's chief executive Elie-Georges Massey twice. In a final report issued on 27 October, the committee found insufficient evidence to indict Kofi Annan on any illegal actions, but did find fault with Benon Sevan, an Armenian-Cypriot national who had worked for the UN for about 40 years. Appointed by Annan to the Oil-For-Food role, Sevan repeatedly asked Iraqis for allocations of oil to the African Middle East Petroleum Company. Sevan's behavior was "ethically improper", Volcker said to reporters. Sevan repeatedly denied the charges and argued that he was being made a "scapegoat". The Volcker report was highly critical of the UN management structure and the Security Council oversight. It strongly recommended a new position be established of Chief Operating Officer (COO), to handle the fiscal and administrative responsibilities then under the Secretary-General's office. The report listed the companies, both Western and Middle Eastern, which had benefited illegally from the program.

Nobel Peace Prize

In 2001, its centennial year, the Nobel Committee decided that the Peace Prize was to be divided between the UN and Annan. They were awarded the Peace Prize "for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world," having revitalized the UN and for having given priority to human rights. The Nobel Committee also recognized his commitment to the struggle to containing the spread of HIV in Africa and his declared opposition to international terrorism.

Relations between the United States and the United Nations

Annan defended his deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown, who openly criticized the United States in a speech on 6 June 2006: "[T]he prevailing practice of seeking to use the UN almost by stealth as a diplomatic tool while failing to stand up for it against its domestic critics is simply not sustainable. You will lose the UN one way or another. [...] [That] the US is constructively engaged with the UN [...] is not well known or understood, in part because much of the public discourse that reaches the US heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest detractors such as Rush Limbaugh and Fox News." Malloch later said his talk was a "sincere and constructive critique of U.S. policy toward the U.N. by a friend and admirer."

The talk was unusual because it violated unofficial policy of not having top officials publicly criticize member nations. The interim U.S. ambassador John R. Bolton, appointed by President George W. Bush, was reported to have told Annan on the phone: "I've known you since 1989 and I'm telling you this is the worst mistake by a senior UN official that I have seen in that entire time." Observers from other nations supported Malloch's view that conservative politicians in the U.S. prevented many citizens from understanding the benefits of U.S. involvement in the UN.

Farewell addresses

On 19 September 2006, Annan gave a farewell address to world leaders gathered at the UN headquarters in New York, in anticipation of his retirement on 31 December. In the speech he outlined three major problems of "an unjust world economy, world disorder, and widespread contempt for human rights and the rule of law", which he believed "have not resolved, but sharpened" during his time as Secretary-General. He also pointed to violence in Africa, and the Arab–Israeli conflict as two major issues warranting attention.

On 11 December 2006, in his final speech as Secretary-General, delivered at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri, Annan recalled Truman's leadership in the founding of the United Nations. He called for the United States to return to President Truman's multilateralist foreign policies, and to follow Truman's credo that "the responsibility of the great states is to serve and not dominate the peoples of the world". He also said that the United States must maintain its commitment to human rights, "including in the struggle against terrorism."

Online access to Kofi Annan's archives

The United Nations Archives and Records Management Section (UNARMS) provides full text access to Kofi Annan's declassified archives while he served as Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997-2006)Search Kofi Annan's Archives

Post-UN career

After his service as UN Secretary-General, Annan took up residence in Geneva and worked in a leading capacity on various international humanitarian endeavors.

Kofi Annan Foundation

In 2007, Annan established the Kofi Annan Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit organization that works to promote better global governance and strengthen the capacities of people and countries to achieve a fairer, more peaceful world.

The organisation was founded on the principles that fair and peaceful societies rest on three pillars: Peace and Security, Sustainable Development, and Human Rights and the Rule of Law, and they have made it their mission to mobilise the leadership and the political resolve needed to tackle threats to these three pillars ranging from violent conflict to flawed elections and climate change, with the aim of achieving a fairer, more peaceful world.

The Foundation provides the analytical, communication and co-ordination capacities needed to ensure that these objectives are achieved. Annan's contribution to peace worldwide is delivered through mediation, political mentoring, advocacy and advice. Through his engagement, Annan aimed to strengthen local and international conflict resolution capabilities. The Foundation provides the analytical and logistical support to facilitate this in co-operation with relevant local, regional and international actors. The Foundation works mainly through private diplomacy, where Annan provided informal counsel and participated in discreet diplomatic initiatives to avert or resolve crises by applying his experience and inspirational leadership. He was often asked to intercede in crises, sometimes as an impartial independent mediator, sometimes as a special envoy of the international community. In recent years he had provided such counsel to Burkina Faso, Kenya, Myanmar, Senegal, Iraq and Colombia.

Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation Process (KNDR)

Following the outbreak of violence during the 2007 Presidential elections in Kenya, the African Union established a Panel of Eminent African Personalities to assist in finding a peaceful solution to the crisis.

The panel, headed by Annan, managed to convince the two principal parties to the conflict, President Mwai Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) and Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), to participate in the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation Process (KNDR). Over the course of 41 days of negotiations, several agreements regarding taking actions to stop the violence and remedying its consequences were signed. On 28 February, President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga signed a coalition government agreement.

Joint Special Envoy for Syria

On 23 February 2012, Annan was appointed as the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, in an attempt to end the civil war taking place. He developed a six-point plan for peace:

commit to work with the Envoy in an inclusive Syrian-led political process to address the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people, and, to this end, commit to appoint an empowered interlocutor when invited to do so by the Envoy;

commit to stop the fighting and achieve urgently an effective United Nations supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to protect civilians and stabilise the country.To this end, the Syrian government should immediately cease troop movements towards, and end the use of heavy weapons in, population centres, and begin pullback of military concentrations in and around population centres.As these actions are being taken on the ground, the Syrian government should work with the Envoy to bring about a sustained cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties with an effective United Nations supervision mechanism.Similar commitments would be sought by the Envoy from the opposition and all relevant elements to stop the fighting and work with him to bring about a sustained cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties with an effective United Nations supervision mechanism;

ensure timely provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and to this end, as immediate steps, to accept and implement a daily two-hour humanitarian pause and to co-ordinate exact time and modalities of the daily pause through an efficient mechanism, including at local level;

intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons, including especially vulnerable categories of persons, and persons involved in peaceful political activities, provide without delay through appropriate channels a list of all places in which such persons are being detained, immediately begin organizing access to such locations and through appropriate channels respond promptly to all written requests for information, access or release regarding such persons;

ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists and a non-discriminatory visa policy for them;

respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully as legally guaranteed.

On 2 August, he resigned as UN and Arab League joint special envoy to Syria, citing the intransigence of both the Assad government and the rebels, as well as the stalemate on the Security Council as preventing any peaceful resolution of the situation. Annan also stated that the lack of international unity and ineffective diplomacy among the world leaders had made the peaceful resolution in Syria an impossible task.

Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security

Annan served as the Chair of the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security. The Commission was launched in May 2011 as a joint initiative of the Kofi Annan Foundation and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. It comprised 12 eminent individuals from around the world, including Ernesto Zedillo, Martti Ahtisaari, Madeleine Albright and Amartya Sen, and aimed to highlight the importance of the integrity of elections to achieving a more secure, prosperous and stable world. The Commission released its final report: Democracy, a Strategy to Improve the Integrity of Elections Worldwide, in September 2012.

Rakhine Commission (Myanmar)

In September 2016, Annan was asked to lead the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State (in Myanmar) – an impoverished region beset by ethnic conflict and extreme sectarian violence, particularly by Myanmar's Buddhist majority against the Rohingya Muslim minority, further targeted by government forces. The commission, widely known simply as the "Annan Commission", was opposed by many Myanmar Buddhists as unwelcome interference in their relations with the Rohingya.

When the Annan commission released its final report, the week of 24 August 2017, with recommendations unpopular with all sides, violence exploded in the Rohingya conflict – the largest and bloodiest humanitarian disaster in the region in decades – driving most of the Rohingya from Myanmar. Annan attempted to engage the United Nations to resolve the matter, but failed.

Annan died a week before the first anniversary of the report, shortly after an announcement by a replacement commission that it would not "point fingers" at the guilty parties – leading to widespread concern that the new commission was just a sham to protect culpable Myanmar government officials and citizens from accountability.

In 2018, before Annan's death, Myanmar's civilian government, under the direction of State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi, made a gesture of acceptance of the Annan commission's recommendations by convening another board – the Advisory Board for the Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine State – ostensibly to implement the Annan commission's proposed reforms, but never actually implemented them. Some of the international representatives resigned – notably the panel's Secretary, Thailand's former foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai, and former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson – decrying the "implementation" committee as ineffective, or a "whitewash."

Other activities

Corporate boards

In March 2011, Annan became a member of the Advisory Board for Investcorp Bank B. S. C. Europe, an international private equity firm and sovereign wealth fund owned by the United Arab Emirates. He held the position until 2018.

Annan became member of the Global Advisory Board of Macro Advisory Partners LLP, Risk and strategic consulting firm based in London and New York, for business, finance and government decision-makers, with some operations related to Investcorp.

Non-profit organizations

In addition to the above, Annan also became involved with several organizations with both global and African focuses, including the following:

United Nations Foundation, member of the board of directors (2008–2018)

University of Ghana, chancellor (2008–2018)

School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University, global fellow (2009–2018)

The Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University, fellow

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Li Ka Shing Professor (2009–2018)

Global Centre for Pluralism, member of the board of directors (2010–2018)

Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, chairman of the prize committee (2007–2018)

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), chairman (2007–2018)

Global Humanitarian Forum, founder and president (2007–2018)

Global Commission on Drug Policy, founding commissioner. The commission had declared in a 2011 report that the war on drugs was a failure. Annan believed that, since drug use represents a health risk, it should be regulated, comparing it to the regulation of tobacco which reduced smoking in many countries.

Annan served as Chair of The Elders, a group of independent global leaders who work together on peace and human rights issues. In November 2008, Annan and fellow Elders Jimmy Carter and Graça Machel attempted to travel to Zimbabwe to make a first-hand assessment of the humanitarian situation in the country. Refused entry, the Elders instead carried out their assessment from Johannesburg, where they met Zimbabwe- and South Africa-based leaders from politics, business, international organisations, and civil society. In May 2011, following months of political violence in Côte d'Ivoire, Annan travelled to the country with Elders Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson to encourage national reconciliation. On 16 October 2014, Annan attended the One Young World Summit in Dublin. During a session with fellow Elder Mary Robinson, Annan encouraged 1,300 young leaders from 191 countries to lead on intergenerational issues such as climate change and the need for action to take place now, not tomorrow.

"We don't have to wait to act. The action must be now. You will come across people who think we should start tomorrow. Even for those who believe action should begin tomorrow, remind them tomorrow begins now, tomorrow begins today, so let's all move forward."

Annan chaired the Africa Progress Panel (APP), a group of ten distinguished individuals who advocate at the highest levels for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. As Chair, he facilitates coalition building to leverage and broker knowledge, in addition to convening decision-makers to influence policy and create lasting change in Africa. Every year, the Panel releases a report, the Africa Progress Report, which outlines an issue of immediate importance to the continent and suggests a set of associated policies. In 2014, the Africa Progress Report highlighted the potential of African fisheries, agriculture, and forests to drive economic development. The 2015 report explores the role of climate change and the potential of renewable energy investments in determining Africa's economic future.

Memoir

On 4 September 2012, Annan with Nader Mousavizadeh wrote a memoir, Interventions: A Life in War and Peace. Published by Penguin Press, the book has been described as a "personal biography of global statecraft".

Personal life

In 1965, Kofi Annan married Titi Alakija, a Nigerian woman from an aristocratic family. Several years later they had a daughter, Ama, and later a son, Kojo. The couple separated in the late 1970s, and divorced in 1983. In 1984, Annan married Nane Lagergren, a Swedish lawyer at the UN and a maternal half-niece of diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. She has a daughter, Nina, from a previous marriage. His brother, Kobina Annan served as Ghana’s ambassador to Morocco.

Death and state funeral

Annan died on the morning of 18 August 2018 in Bern, Switzerland, at the age of 80 after a short illness. António Guterres, the current UN Secretary-General, said that "Kofi Annan was a champion for peace and a guiding force for good." The body of Kofi Annan was returned to his native Ghana from Geneva in a brief and solemn ceremony at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, on 10 September 2018. His coffin, draped in the blue UN flag, was accompanied by his widow Nane Annan, his children and senior diplomats from the international organisation.

On 13 September 2018, a state funeral was held for Annan in Ghana at the Accra International Conference Centre. The ceremony was attended by several political leaders from across Africa as well as Ghanaian traditional rulers, European royalty and dignitaries from the international community, including the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Prior to the funeral service, his body lay in state in the foyer of the same venue, from 11–12 September 2018. A private burial followed the funeral service at the new Military Cemetery at Burma Camp, with full military honours – the sounding of the Last Post by army buglers and a 17-gun salute.

Memorials and legacy

The United Nations Postal Administration released a new stamp in memory of Kofi Annan on 31 May 2019. Annan's portrait on the stamp was designed by artist Martin Mörck.

[southeastasianists]

But what few people know is that the song was based on an earlier nationalist tune which was hurriedly adapted by a group of foreigners and Burmese people in advance of Myanmar’s first independence day on 4 January, 1948.

According to U Khin Zaw or “K”, the first director of the Burma Broadcasting Service (BBS), the national anthem Kabar Ma Kyei was based on the “Dobama Song” or “Dobama Thakin” which was sung at Burman nationalist rallies in the 1930s.

In 1930, the political activist and translator Thakin U Ba Thaung asked his friend, the composer YMB Saya Tin, to compose a tune for some patriotic lyrics he had written.

The result was the “Dobama Song”, a rousing song in praise of the Burman ethnic group which was first performed at Rangoon University’s Thaton Hall on 19 July 1930 during the Student Strike against colonial rule.

The song very quickly became the official anthem of the Dobama Asi-ayone or the “We Burmans Association” — the group to which Ba Thaung and other leaders such as Aung San and U Nu then belonged.

During World War 2, the “Dobama Song” was used as the national anthem under the Japanese occupation of Myanmar from 1942 to 1945.

But after the War, the interim government headed by Aung San’s Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League Party (AFPFL) decided the country needed a new national anthem to express its high political aspirations and put it on par with the rest of the world.

As a result, a National Anthem Committee was formed in 1947 to select a new song.

Members of the Myanmar Musical Federation headed by Daw Saw Mya Aye Kyi composed three possible tunes, but all three were rejected, and, in the end, the committee decided that the “Dobama Song”’s popularity had been tried and tested, and that the song should not be abandoned as the national anthem.

So the composer Dagon Saya Tin and others set about adapting the chorus part of the “Dobama Song” into a new song: Kabar Ma Kyei.

Unlike its predecessor, however, Parliament asked that the new version make no explicit mention of the Burman ethnic group.

Instead, it would only mention Myanmar — the country and the land — a decision which was made in order to promote unionist spirit and to avoid offending the ethnic minorities.

The new song was finally ready, but it lacked multi-part harmonies (the original “Dobama Song” had been sung in unison) and a full score for the marching band.

So, in advance of the independence ceremony, “K” asked the musician Stella Ba Gyaw to write a piano score which was then sent to the British bandmaster of the H.M.S. Birmingham, a Royal Navy ship docked in Rangoon harbor, who adapted it into a full score.

John Jenkins of the British council and Commander Charles Brandler of the U.S. Navy band then chipped in and composed arrangements for the organ and for full navy band, respectively.

The music and lyrics were finished just in time to be played during the hand-over from the British to the Burmese authorities on the morning of 4 January, 1948.

According to “K”, it was a momentous occasion. At 3 a.m. that morning he rose to prepare the live radio broadcast of the proceedings.

The flag-raising ceremony was set to take place at 4:20 a.m. (an auspicious time) and “K” hurried to the BBS studio in Golden Valley and then down to the Secretariat to prepare the microphones.

An unseasonable light rain was falling and it was cold.

In the building’s courtyard, the British Governor Hubert Rance and President of the new Union of Burma, Sao Shwe Thaik, had assembled, along with a crowd of representatives and on-lookers.

The marine band of the H.M.S. Birmingham struck up the tune and the new national anthem was played for the first time to the nation.

As the British flag was lowered and the new flag of the Union of Burma raised, both British and Burmese had tears in their eyes, but not necessarily for the same reasons.

“K” would later call this “the happiest and busiest day of my life” and would never forget returning home that morning to hear the newspaper boy singing Kabar Ma Kyei, Myanmar Pye… at the top of his voice as he rode his bicycle crazily back and forth throughout Golden Valley.

Since 1947, the song has been played in two parts, the first being a Myanmar style section and the second a Western style waltz.

In the 1970s, the military regime considered changing the national anthem, but there was public outcry, and the generals eventually decided against it. Kabar Ma Kyei was subsequently rated second best national anthem at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

The newspaper boy, then, was right to be happy — after all, a new nation, and a new hit single, had just been born.

[milkboydotnet]

Christians for National Liberation in the Philippines

from Jose Maria Sison's lecture at the Forum for Liberation Theology, "The new democratic revolution through protracted people’s war" The Christians for National Liberation (CNL) was founded at the worship room of the Sampaloc University Center in Manila on 17 February, 1972 on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora. Seventy-two revolutionary disciples of Christ gathered to bear the “cross of sacrifice” and raise the “red banner of revolution”. They described themselves as a revolutionary organization of church people who had been challenged by social realities and their Christian faith to take part in the new democratic revolution under the leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines and in accordance with the Program for a People’s Democratic Revolution. They adopted the battle cry, “Love your neighbor. Serve the people.”

The founding process extended to the general assembly that was held at the Assumption Convent in Herran, Manila on 19-20 August 1972, a full month before the Marcos regime declared martial law and imposed a fascist dictatorship on the Filipino people. The nearly 250 delegates included priests, nuns, pastors, seminarians, novices, and church militants involved in social action projects in urban and rural communities. They elected the National Executive Board of the CNL.

The CNL officers and members arose from and developed in the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal or national democratic movement from the late 1960s to 1972. They were motivated by a high sense of patriotism sharpened by renewed studies of the Philippine revolution of 1896, the current dismal conditions, and the urgent need for continuing the Philippine revolution. They wanted to end the semi-colonial and semi-feudal conditions. They wanted national and social liberation from the evils of foreign domination, domestic feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism. Like the rest of Filipino patriots and progressives, they were also inspired by the revolutionary resistance of the Vietnamese and other Indochinese people against the US war of aggression.

They were appalled and challenged by the ever worsening social crisis, the increasing violence of the Marcos regime towards mass protests, and apparent scheme of the regime to impose a fascist dictatorship on the people. They deemed it necessary to fight for democracy not only in the sense of upholding civil and political liberties but also in realizing the substance of democracy though land reform for the benefit of the peasant majority of the people. They desired the end of the conditions of underdevelopment and the start of genuine development through land reform and national industrialization.

The Catholics, the members of the Philippine Independent Church, and the Protestants all used the Bible as the source of inspiration. They had their respective theological authorities to support their commitment to the cause of national and social liberation. Certainly, the Catholics found wider new ground in the documents of the Second Vatican Council. The book Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Freire became available in English translation in 1970, and influenced those who became members of the CNL. It was well ahead of the book A Theology of Liberation by Gustavo Gutierrez which was published in English by Orbis only in 1973. The book Rules for Radicals of Saul Alinsky also influenced those Christians who engaged in community work. The Filipino Redemptorist, Fr. Luis Hechanova advocated the Theology of Struggle and wrote a pamphlet on this.

The CNL departed from the conservative tradition and position of the institutional church and hierarchy. It called for the church of the people, especially for the poor, deprived, and oppressed. It propagated conscientization and preferential option for the poor. The lower clergy joined the CNL and consciously distanced themselves from the mindset and actuations of an institutional church that owns substantial land and stocks in major corporations, and that provides services mainly to the exploiting classes. In the shift from the Spanish to the US colonial period, the Catholic Church retained their property rights and gained capital for corporate investments from the sale of friar estates which came under the US-instituted land reform program.

The religious and church workers that comprised the CNL also differentiated themselves from the reformist tradition cultivated by the American Jesuits since the 1930s to propagate the social encyclicals of the church, advocate social reforms, and carry out social action with the objective of improving upon and preserving the ruling system, and preventing the communists from winning the people and taking power. The American Jesuit, Fr. Walter Hogan became prominent in the Philippines for establishing the Institute of Social Order which trained the organizers of the Federation of Free Workers and the Federation of Free Farmers starting in the 1950s, in order to seize the initiative as the state cracked down on the suspected communist organizations of workers and peasants. They also pushed for the enactment of the Anti-Subversion Law to target suspected communists.

Special mention must made of the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines, based in the state-owned University of the Philippines, in the university belt in Manila and the Protestant colleges and universities. It studied and published articles against US domination and the unjust social system in the Philippines. The Khi Rho, a militant Catholic youth and student organization, declared itself a national democratic organization. It promoted the line of the new democratic revolution not only in the Catholic schools and the National Union of Students of the Philippines but also worked to win over to the line such organizations as the Federation of Free Workers and Federation of Free Farmers. It actively opposed the rabid anti-communist line of Fr. Jose Blanco, S.J.

The officers and members of the CNL studied the documents of the Communist Party of the Philippines, especially the Program for a People’s Democratic Revolution and Amado Guerrero’s Philippine Society and Revolution, and engaged the communists in dialogues for mutual understanding and cooperation in the social, economic, political, and cultural fields. The Christian side did not oblige the Communists to study Christian theology. Neither did the Communists oblige the Christians to study Marxism-Leninism. But certainly in the course of ever continuing dialogue, each side took interest in studying the principles of the other side, in appreciating the desire of the other side to join the cause of national and social liberation, and in creating the bridge of cooperation.

The Communists learned more deeply than ever about the faith and good works of the Christians. They distinguished the good Christians from the bad ones among the exploiting classes, who used religion as an opium to delude themselves and the people. On the other hand, the Christians learned to appreciate materialist dialectics and class analysis as tools for understanding and solving social problems and for changing society. Many do so without having to give up their religious faith. Some priest friends of mine also said that they accepted historical materialism but not dialectical materialism.

When Marcos declared martial law on 21 September 1972, the CNL played an important role in opposing the fascist dictatorship and in providing refuge and facilities to many people, especially the activists, who were targeted for arrest and detention. They also helped families in asking the military for the whereabouts of people arrested and detained, and in providing humanitarian aid and legal counsel to those in need. They did so even as then Cardinal Rufino Santos supported the proclamation of martial law and declared that it be given a chance to carry out reforms.

The CNL joined the National Democratic Front of the Philippines when it was established on 24 April 1973 as a united front of patriotic and progressive forces committed to work for the unity of the broad masses of the Filipino people in fighting the US-directed Marcos fascist dictatorship. It cooperated with the organizations that sought its help. It deployed CNL members to strengthen the urban underground. It played a key role in encouraging and supporting the La Tondeña workers’ strike in 1975, and the consequent nationwide wave of workers’ strikes in 300 workplaces that extended up to 1976.

It authorized CNL members to work in the countryside in order to do religious work and mass work, or join the New People’s Army and become spokespersons or communicators to the people. Many priests, nuns, pastors and seminarians became communists and even joined the NPA in the course of working with communists and Red fighters in serving the people and fighting the enemy. There is a long list of martyrs and heroes who were religious and chose to become revolutionary fighters. There is also long list of religious who became political prisoners.

In the broad united front of the religious promoted by the CNL, the secular priests in the Philippine Priests Incorporated and the Association of Major Religious Superiors made significant contributions to the people’s struggle against the Marcos fascist dictatorship. Many social action centers of the Catholic Church adopted the national democratic orientation and enjoyed the support of Bishop Julio X. Labayen and Fr. Luis Hechanova, head and executive director of the National Secretariat of Social Action (NASSA). Bishop Labayen inspired and supported the Basic Christian Communities-Community Organizing which became targets of propaganda and physical attacks by the military minions of the fascist dictatorship.

Archbishop Jaime Sin took over the archdiocese of Manila when Cardinal Santos died in 1973. By then, human rights violations had become rampant and more bloody, with forced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings victimizing oppositionists, trade unionists, and peasant leaders, who were affiliated with the church and who were not at all connected to the revolutionary movement. The CNL played a significant role in persuading Cardinal Sin and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines to criticize the fascist regime and demand justice for the victims of human rights violations.

However, Cardinal Sin would only proclaim a policy of critical collaboration towards the Marcos fascist regime. This policy would come to an end only on 13 February 1986 when the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines issued a pastoral letter declaring the regime illegitimate and immoral after the farcical snap presidential election of 1986.

In accordance with their own respective reasons, the Catholic and other Christian churches, the conservative opposition forces, the Communist Party of the Philippines, the US, sections of the reactionary armed forces, the chambers of commerce and industry, and other forces, converged on the decision to overthrow the Marcos regime. The broad masses of the people carried out gigantic mass actions in the national capital region and in the provinces to put the fascist dictatorship to an end.

[neerthirai24]

Manipur govt. employees strike work seeking enhanced pay scale

Manipur govt. employees strike work seeking enhanced pay scale

The Manipur Government Services Federation and the Manipur Secretariat Services Association are demanding the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations. The working of the government offices in Manipur was severely affected on Tuesday, the first day of the indefinite cease-work strike launched to demand the implement the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. The strike was…

[thisdaynews]

BREAKING:Protest in Ibadan over security raid on Igboho’s home.

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/breakingprotest-in-ibadan-over-security-raid-on-igbohos-home/

BREAKING:Protest in Ibadan over security raid on Igboho’s home.

Many allies of now-needed Yoruba Nation instigator, Sunday Adeyemo, prominently known as Sunday Igboho, yesterday organized a dissent following the strike by agents of the Department of State Services (DSS) at his Soka home Ibadan.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

The DSS had last week said a joint group of safety agents assaulted Igboho’s home dependent on an insight report.

The assault be that as it may had been denounced by numerous Nigerians, including dissident legal advisor, Femi Falana (SAN) and Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka.

The allies of Igboho, under the aegis of Yoruba Nation Agitator, assembled before his home to dissent prior to moving round the Ibadan city.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

Many chided the agents for announcing Igboho needed. Some others expressed that the Federal Government should pay the N500 million harms as mentioned by Igboho’s legal counselor.

A significant number of the allies conveyed notices which read: “No retreat, no acquiescence!”, “Oodua Nation!”, “Sunday Igboho is definitely not a lawbreaker!” among others.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

The dissidents likewise request the arrival of certain partners of the Yoruba political dissident presently in confinement of the security organization.

One of the dissidents, who lean toward namelessness, while tending to the get-together, said they would walked to the royal residence of Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji; and from that point continue to the Government House, among different spots.

Oba Saliu Adetunji, notwithstanding, engaged allies of Igboho to be serene and well behaved in introducing their complaints.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

The Olubadan, who at first got the nonconformists at his Popoyemoja Palace, later trained Mr. Adeola Oloko, his Personal Assistant/Head of Media, to address them.

Peruse Also: Igboho’s legal advisors move to get arrival of kept associates

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

Adetunji spoke to them to be tranquil and honest in introducing their complaints to the Federal Government.

Asking them to show restraint toward the public authority, the conventional ruler called for harmony in Ibadanland and the whole state overall.

He guaranteed the dissidents that their requests for the arrival of those captured in Igboho’s home inside seven days, would be introduced to the suitable quarters.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

The Olubadan additionally guaranteed that he would sort out a partners’ gathering to see to their requests.

Adetunji, in any case, exposed the cases in the online media that he had been “settled” by the public authority, saying there is no bit of substance in the said distribution.

The adolescents additionally raged the Oyo State Government Secretariat, Agodi Ibadan in continuation.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

The dissent at first caused a minor alarm at the State Secretariat as laborers and individuals around the complex ran away in various ways on locating the enormous group coming towards the secretariat.

Not long subsequently, the Executive Assistant to Governor Seyi Makinde on Security, CP Sunday Odukoya (retd) showed up at the secretariat’s under-flyover to address the dissidents.

Promotion

Talking, one of the pioneers said their interest of Yoruba Nation is unaltered and censured the attack and assault on Igboho’s home.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

Yet, Odukoya lauded the adolescents for their quiet lead in completing their dissent, asking them to express their requests and complaints in highly contrasting with the goal that equivalent can be officially sent to the lead representative.

He, nonetheless, guaranteed that a report of the occurrence and their requests would be conveyed to the lead representative quickly for brief consideration.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

At the point when asked on any type of affirmation that the public authority would take up the case, the resigned CP said: “In the event that they lessen it to composing, moves will be made. There’s nothing more to it.”

[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 1/28/2019

Good MORNING #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Monday 28th January 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

MIA ON A HIGH – Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley says she feels validated by Government’s decision to support the Barbados Cricket Association’s (BCA) bid to host international cricket matches between West Indies and England at Kensington Oval. Given projections that Barbados stood to gain $80 million in foreign exchange, and following West Indies’ massive victory in the first Test that featured outstanding performances from four local boys, Mottley also pledged Government’s commitment to any sporting activity that would redound to the benefit of the country. In an interview with THE NATION after West Indies crushed England by 381 runs on Saturday on the back of sterling contributions from captain Jason Holder and fellow Barbadians Shane Dowrich, Kemar Roach and Roston Chase, Mottley expressed delight at the turn of events. “I am on top of the world. This is even more special for me. One of the first decisions I made after being sworn in as Prime Minister was to agree to host this match and the One-Day Internationals. To have this kind of validation with this kind of victory, it doesn’t get better than this – a  Bajan double century, a Bajan century, a ‘barriffle’ of Bajan wickets in the first and second innings, and then to have a Bajan sub as wicketkeeper when the chips were down,” she said. (DN)

PM MOTTLEY TO ATTEND CARICOM-UN TALKS ON VENEZUELA – Prime Minister Mia Mottley will join two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) colleagues in New York on Monday for talks with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss the crisis in Venezuela. According to a statement from the CARICOM Secretariat, issued on Sunday evening, the regional delegation will be led by CARICOM Chairman, Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris of St Kitts and Nevis, and will also include Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. Grenada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter David, and CARICOM Secretary General Irwin LaRocque will also attend the talks at UN Headquarters. The meeting is a follow up to the decision of CARICOM Heads of Government at their Special Emergency Meeting on Thursday which discussed the ongoing conflict in Venezuela. The CARICOM Leaders agreed to request a meeting with the UN Secretary-General which he accepted. (BT)

CRIME QUERY – Months before the spike in crime at the start of the year, Barbadians had expressed concern, fearing for their lives and the safety of communities in the wake of an increase in gun and gang-related activities. They made their feelings known in a study on the public perceptions of crime and violence conducted by Dr Dwayne Devonish, a senior lecturer in management studies at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus late last year. In his survey, which polled about 1 000 people, more than 70 per cent described the crime situation as “bad” or “very bad” and all agreed crime had worsened compared to 2017. They laid the root cause of this increase squarely on unemployment, especially among high-risk youth, drugs and the state of the economy. Respondents believed that some of the crime was being perpetrated by “outsiders” of a given community, who were seeking revenge, or by rival gangs who were looking for “justice” or “possessions”. The police also came under fire in the survey. Some respondents stated their reluctance to report crimes they witnessed to police because of their lack of trust in the Force and perceived tardiness in responding to a report. They also feared being labelled or targeted as informants. (DN)

WOMEN’S TEARS – Amidst complaints that clerks at the maintenance courts were driving some women to tears, the Registrar of the Supreme Court has said staff will continue undergoing customer service training. Registrar Barbara Cooke-Alleyne made the comment as a guest on Starcom Network’s Brass Tacks Sunday. Cooke-Alleyne, along with Chief Magistrate Christopher Birch, were fielding questions from mainly female callers about the service and treatment they received when they journeyed to court offices to collect child maintenance. The Registrar apologised to several women who related their experiences on air. Two of the women spoke of being reduced to tears and of feeling humiliated after their interaction with the clerks who, they said, made them feel as if they were begging for money.  (DN)

CONSTABLES NOT FEELING SO SPECIAL – An old police mobile unit parked along St Lawrence Gap, Christ Church, for many years is the “home” for Special Constables (S. C.) attached to the Southern Division’s  Tourism Patrol Unit. It has no running water; no bathroom facilities and no air conditioning. Instead, Special Constables have to use an old fan borrowed from a business in the area over a year ago. The only furniture the mobile unit contains is an old desk, a bench whose leather bottom is torn and tattered and an old chair.  When the Special Constables want to use the bathroom, they either have to telephone the nearby Worthing Police Station and wait for a vehicle to arrive to take them there or go to a hotel or other business place in the area.  “This is another example of how we are not special to the Royal Barbados Police Force,” said a disgruntled Special Constable who has long complained about their conditions of service. The Special Constables who are deployed to patrol the tourist belt pointed out that given the high level of gun crimes they are now required to work shifts around the clock to ensure that the visitors are safe; but noted their working  conditions are both unsanitary and unacceptable. (DN)

BADNESS MOVIE CLIP SPARKS PROBE – The Royal Barbados Police Force has launched an investigation to find out how a local film crew was able to drive into Central Police Station and film a scene for a movie. The NATION was reliably informed that police hierarchy was caught off-guard when Episode 10 of the popular movie series Badness aired in December showing a scene filmed on the compound of the station. In that scene, two men acting as police officers casually drive into the station located at Coleridge Street, The City, and proceed to drive around the entire compound as they discuss killing some men on the block. In the film, no real police officers are seen at the station and no sentry appeared to be at the gate. When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Erwin Boyce said there was a protocol to be followed. “You can’t do that. You can’t just come in and do what you want to do. There is a certain protocol involved. You [have] to report to the station officer or an officer at the gate. “Obviously, it is something that we would investigate. I would assume that there is some effort to find out what happened.”  (DN)

17 DOGS TAKEN FROM HOME – Seventeen dogs, including 13 puppies, were removed from a house in Vauxhall, Christ Church, last week after concerns were raised about their welfare. The severely malnourished adult dogs, and flea- and worm-riddled puppies, which were kept chained to cement blocks, are now being treated at the RSPCA’s Cheltenham Lodge vet clinic on Spring Garden, St Michael. Chief Inspector Wayne Norville responded to the house after calls for assistance were made to the RSPCA. He told THE NATION the dogs appeared to be caught in the middle of a family dispute. (DN)

TREVOR BAYLISS WANTS ENGLAND TO SHOW MORE GUTS – Trevor Bayliss has questioned the “guts and determination” of his England side after their chastening defeat in the first Test in Barbados. Bayliss, the England coach, described himself as “speechless” after the team’s second batting collapse of the game and suggested some frank words would be exchanged within the squad after a performance that lacked “mental discipline”. While he defended England’s preparations and selection, arguing that several players had simply not performed and that the batting errors gave the spinners little chance to bowl on a worn surface, he did acknowledge that Sam Curran had endured the “first bad game” of his career and that Keaton Jennings’ struggles had him worried. “I think it gets down to a bit of guts and determination to get through those tough periods,” Bayliss said. “It’s not the first time that we’ve succumbed in a short space of time. The boys are in the dressing room hurting and I’d be worried if they weren’t. “Do they lack mental discipline? Personally I think so. You don’t have to have perfect technique to be able to score runs or take wickets: it’s how you go about using it. On this occasion we’ve certainly been lacking in that department. I’m not sure I can repeat what has been said [in the dressing room].” Bayliss did acknowledge West Indies’ fine bowling – especially in the first innings when Kemar Roach claimed a five-wicket haul – but felt England should have coped better throughout, especially when Roston Chase was on his way to an eight-wicket haul in the second innings. “They did bowl well, but every time a team does that we shouldn’t be expecting to get knocked over for 77,” he said. “In the second innings, the guys looked like they were trying, we made good starts but at this level you have to be able to bat longer than that. “Chase bowled a good line and a good length. He didn’t give us any easy runs to get off strike. He built that pressure up, broke down our techniques on a couple of occasions and there were some poor shots on some occasions. That adds up to eight wickets. “It’s not the first time this has happened. Every time we lose a wicket it’s the beginning of a collapse. And to be honest, I don’t know how to explain it. There’s nothing that stands out in your preparation or the lead up to the game that is any different to when we win. We have to work out what’s the difference between when we put on a partnership after losing a wicket and losing eight or nine quick ones.” The decision to omit Stuart Broad and play two spinners has been widely criticised in recent days, but Bayliss believes it was not so much the decisions that were wrong as the performances. He did suggest, however, that Broad had been missed and that his inclusion would be considered ahead of the second Test. “We made a decision in the belief that the five guys we picked would go out and bowl as well as they can do,” he said. “Unfortunately, on this occasion, they didn’t. “When we saw the wicket we were going to go with two spinners. Unfortunately, we didn’t bat well enough in the first innings to get through to the fourth or fifth day, where the two spinners could take advantage. And I think they would be disappointed [with their performance]. Chase bowled very few short balls, but we let them off with easy singles so you can’t put pressure on the batsmen. “It was down to Curran and Broad [for the final seamer]. Our gut feel was Curran as he has done well for us over the last six or seven games. It didn’t work out like that, the young bloke has had his first bad Test in his career. It won’t be his last but he’s a good young player who will learn from it. “One of his advantages of playing someone like Stuart is that he doesn’t go for too many runs, hopefully picks up some wickets, but gives us control. That stood out in this match, with only [James] Anderson and [Ben] Stokes being able to provide that line-and-length bowling and a bit of pressure on the opposition. We’ll have to revisit that in the next match.” While Bayliss celebrated the performance of Rory Burns, who made a career-best 84 in the second innings, he accepted Jennings’ struggles against seam bowling were a worry and also suggested that, in a perfect world, he would prefer to see at least one four-day, first-class games ahead of a Test series. “Burns has shown enough,” he said. “He looks like he’s been here for 20 or 30 Tests, not four. He’s still learning and will still get better. “Keaton is struggling a little bit. I’d be lying if I said we’re not worried about it and I’d be lying if I said he hadn’t been thinking about it. He’s one of the hardest workers we’ve got and he’s going to leave no stone unturned in making it better. “We prepared the same way as we did in Sri Lanka. Two two-day games. But we knew what we were going to get in Sri Lanka. Here we were a bit unsure. We were expecting it to be not as dry and go in with four seamers and one spinner. “Personally I would like to play some first-class games before the series, but you’ve only got four days scheduled, and if you want to give everyone a go, it is difficult. It’s the way of the world these days.” England fly to Antigua on Monday with the second Test starting there on Thursday. (BT)

GRAVE CALLS FOR MORE RESPECT TO BE SHOWN TO WINDIES – Chief executive officer of Cricket West Indies Johnny Grave wants more respect to be given to West Indies players. His comments have come in the wake of the regional team’s commanding win over England on Saturday, which saw them take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The Windies, the eighth ranked Test nation destroyed the number three rated English outfit by 381 runs inside four days at Kensington Oval on Saturday. Before the start of the opening Test match, former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott described the West Indies as “very ordinary, average cricketers”, while another former player in Andrew Flintoff said the “world’s gone mad” after West Indies captain Jason Holder made 202 not out in the second innings. However, Grave described those comments as being “borderline disrespectful” and “completely unwarranted”. “Criticism of our players and suggestions that they’re not world class is unfair. They are so dedicated. We’ve got 11 cricketers here and many more in the region who want to play Test cricket,” the CEO said. “I saw Andrew Flintoff say he can’t believe Jason Holder got a double hundred, yet I think Jason Holder is a fantastic cricketer and has been performing so fantastically over the last 18 months – a brilliant captain.” The 41-year-old Flintoff averaged 31.77 with the bat and 32.78 with the ball in his 79-Test career, while Holder is currently averaging 33.86 with the bat and 28.29 with the ball in 36 matches. (DN)

CHASE WANTED SOME GLORY – Roston Chase didn’t have to look too far for inspiration to produce a career-best eight-wicket haul that helped West Indies complete a crushing victory by 381 runs over England in the first Test yesterday at Kensington Oval. The stimulus was the outstanding performances of his teammates on the previous two days.  “Yesterday, after watching those guys perform like that, I was happy for them but I was a bit jealous that it wasn’t me. So I guess that I really took my opportunity to get the spotlight on me as well in the second innings,” Chase cheekily told the media as he flashed a smile. “It was a great feeling to get career-best figures and I will just look to keep on pushing from here,” he said. “The pitch didn’t really assist me that much. I was really focusing on putting the ball where I want to put it in my area, despite what the batsmen were doing and that really paid off for me, with a little bit of variation in my speed.” (DN)

NSC OPENING LATE ON MONDAY – The National Sports Council (NSC) and all of its facilities, including the National and Netball stadia, will open at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, January 28. An official at the NSC explained that the late opening is to facilitate a staff meeting. Persons are therefore asked to conduct their business accordingly. The National Sports Council apologizes for any inconvenience this late opening may cause. (BGIS)

STATUE FOR SIR WES - Sir Garry Sobers is about to get some company outside Kensington Oval. Windies fast bowling great Sir Wes Hall seems set to be honoured yet again, as plans are in place to erect a statue bearing his likeness near to Sir Garry’s iconic monument outside the Oval by November. Former chairman of World Cup Barbados, Chris de Caires, confirmed the news yesterday as part of his initiative with Cricket Legends of Barbados to pay tribute to all of the country’s great cricketers. “If you travel the world you would see that statues are used to promote images of nation-building, and someone like Sir Wes definitely fits that profile as not just a great cricketer, but a former West Indies manager, West Indies board president, Cabinet minister and priest,” said de Caires. (DN)

BALANCING MOTHERHOOD AND BUSINESS 101 – If you told Zoë Allamby six years ago that today she would be a mum to a bouncing, adventurous and beautiful baby girl while managing a booming make-up line, she wouldn’t have believed you.  But today she’s doing it and she’s doing it well.  Zoë is mother to Nala, a bubbly nine-month-old baby girl. She has also now started her make-up line CaribBeauty. Known to many as a model and as YouTuber, Zoe, who now lives in Delaware, said her life as it is now came as a quite a shock, especially becoming a mum. “Nala was one big surprise to us all. My husband Alan and I had plans for a child maybe around 30 or so or when we were more settled because we just moved up to Delaware for one of his jobs. Life happened; it was very unexpected but we just rolled with it and embraced it as it went on,” the 26-year-old said. The make-up line started just before Nala came into the picture but began booming when it was time to raise her new daughter. “CaribBeauty started out as a single highlighter ZoGlow, and when I was developing that Nala wasn’t in the picture. After the highlighter launched and did well, the lipsticks came, then I had Nala so I had to take a break. But I’m now back full force and distributing in the United States as well as Barbados,” she said. Zoë said since getting back into the game, her line has been doing well. (DN)

CHEERS FOR NEW BISHOP - A fanfare and loud cheers heralded the ordination and consecration yesterday of the new Anglican Bishop of Barbados. But the man of the moment, Reverend Michael Maxwell, shook his head in what appeared to be disbelief as hundreds of Anglicans rejoiced and welcomed their new leader after a lengthy and acrimonious election process that threatened to divide the church. It was just after 5:30 p.m. that visiting regional bishops removed the raiments of Maxwell’s former position and garbed him in the robes of the office as the 14th Bishop of Barbados. In a ceremony in the Gymnasium of the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex, attended by Governor-General Dame Sandra Mason, Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson, members of the Cabinet, former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and current senators, including the Barbados Workers’ Union general secretary Senator Toni Moore, the visiting bishops anointed his head; gave him the staff with which to lead the flock; slid the ring on his finger and placed the mitre on his head. (DN)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 337 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles# dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

[blackkudos]

Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 1938 – 18 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, from January 1997 to December 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as chairman of The Elders, an international organization founded by Nelson Mandela.

Born in Kumasi, Annan went on to study economics at Macalester College, international relations from the Graduate Institute Geneva and management at MIT. Annan joined the UN in 1962, working for the World Health Organization's Geneva office. He went on to work in several capacities at the UN Headquarters including serving as the Under-Secretary-General for peacekeeping between March 1992 and December 1996. He was appointed as the Secretary-General on 13 December 1996 by the Security Council, and later confirmed by the General Assembly, making him the first office holder to be elected from the UN staff itself. He was re-elected for a second term in 2001, and was succeeded as Secretary-General by Ban Ki-moon on 1 January 2007.

As the Secretary-General, Annan reformed the UN bureaucracy; worked to combat HIV, especially in Africa; and launched the UN Global Compact. He was criticized for not expanding the Security Council and faced calls for resignation after an investigation into the Oil-for-Food Programme. After leaving the UN, he founded the Kofi Annan Foundation in 2007 to work on international development. In 2012, Annan was the UN–Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria, to help find a resolution to the ongoing conflict there. Annan quit after becoming frustrated with the UN's lack of progress with regard to conflict resolution. In September 2016, Annan was appointed to lead a UN commission to investigate the Rohingya crisis. In August 2018, Annan died in Switzerland after a short illness.António Guterres, the current UN Secretary-General, said that Kofi Annan was a champion for peace and a guiding force for good.

Early years and education

Kofi Annan was born in the Kofandros section of Kumasi in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) on 8 April 1938. His twin sister Efua Atta, who died in 1991, shared the middle name Atta, which in the Akan means 'twin'. Annan and his sister were born into one of the country's Ashanti and Fante aristocratic families; both of their grandfathers and their uncle were tribal chiefs.

In the Akan names tradition, some children are named according to the day of the week on which they were born, and/or in relation to how many children precede them. Kofi in Akan is the name that corresponds with Friday. Annan said that his surname rhymes with "cannon" in English.

From 1954 to 1957, Annan attended the elite Mfantsipim school, a Methodist boarding school in Cape Coast founded in the 1870s. Annan said that the school taught him "that suffering anywhere concerns people everywhere". In 1957, the year Annan graduated from Mfantsipim, the Gold Coast gained independence from the UK and began using the name "Ghana".

In 1958, Annan began studying economics at the Kumasi College of Science and Technology, now the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology of Ghana. He received a Ford Foundation grant, enabling him to complete his undergraduate studies in economics at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States, in 1961. Annan then completed a diplôme d'études approfondies DEA degree in International Relations at The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1961–62. After some years of work experience, he studied at the MIT Sloan School of Management (1971–72) in the Sloan Fellows program and earned a master's degree in management.

Annan was fluent in English, French, Akan, some Kru languages and other African languages.

Career

In 1962, Kofi Annan started working as a budget officer for the World Health Organization, an agency of the United Nations (UN). From 1974 to 1976, he worked as a manager of the state-owned Ghana Tourist Development Company in Accra. In 1980 he became the head of personnel for the office of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva. In 1983 he became the director of administrative management services of the UN Secretariat in New York. In 1987, Annan was appointed as an Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management and Security Coordinator for the UN system. In 1990, he became Assistant Secretary-General for Program Planning, Budget and Finance, and Control.

When Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali established the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in 1992, Annan was appointed to the new department as Deputy to then Under-Secretary-General Marrack Goulding. Annan was subsequently appointed in March 1993 as Under-Secretary-General of that department. On 29 August 1995, while Boutros-Ghali was unreachable on an airplane, Annan instructed United Nations officials to "relinquish for a limited period of time their authority to veto air strikes in Bosnia." This move allowed NATO forces to conduct Operation Deliberate Force and made him a favorite of the United States. According to Richard Holbrooke, Annan's "gutsy performance" convinced the United States that he would be a good replacement for Boutros-Ghali.

He was appointed a Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the former Yugoslavia, serving from November 1995 to March 1996.

Criticism

In 2003, retired Canadian General Roméo Dallaire, who was force commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda, claimed that Annan was overly passive in his response to the imminent genocide. In his book Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda (2003), Dallaire asserted that Annan held back UN troops from intervening to settle the conflict, and from providing more logistical and material support. Dallaire claimed that Annan failed to provide responses to his repeated faxes asking for access to a weapons depository; such weapons could have helped Dallaire defend the endangered Tutsis. In 2004, ten years after the genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people were killed, Annan said, "I could and should have done more to sound the alarm and rally support."

In his book Interventions: A Life in War and Peace, Annan again argued that DPKO could have made better use of the media to raise awareness of the violence in Rwanda and put pressure on governments to provide the troops necessary for an intervention. Annan explained that the events in Somalia and the collapse of the UNOSOM II mission fostered a hesitation amongst UN Member states to approve robust peacekeeping operations. As a result, when the UNAMIR mission was approved just days after the battle, the resulting force lacked the troop levels, resources and mandate to operate effectively.

Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997–2006)

Appointment

In 1996, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali ran unopposed for a second term. Although he won 14 of the 15 votes on the Security Council, he was vetoed by the United States. After four deadlocked meetings of the Security Council, Boutros-Ghali suspended his candidacy, becoming the only Secretary-General ever to be denied a second term. Annan was the leading candidate to replace him, beating Amara Essy by one vote in the first round. However, France vetoed Annan four times before finally abstaining. The UN Security Council recommended Annan on 13 December 1996. Confirmed four days later by the vote of the General Assembly, he started his first term as Secretary-General on 1 January 1997.

Due to Boutros-Ghali's overthrow, a second Annan term would give Africa the office of Secretary-General for three consecutive terms. In 2001, the Asia-Pacific Group agreed to support Annan for a second term in return for the African Group's support for an Asian Secretary-General in the 2006 selection. The Security Council recommended Annan for a second term on 27 June 2001, and the General Assembly approved his reappointment on 29 June 2001.

ActivitiesRecommendations for UN reform

Soon after taking office in 1997, Annan released two reports on management reform. On 17 March 1997, the report Management and Organisational Measures (A/51/829) introduced new management mechanisms through the establishment of a cabinet-style body to assist him and be grouping the UN's activities in accordance with four core missions. A comprehensive reform agenda was issued on 14 July 1997 entitled Renewing the United Nations: A Programme for Reform (A/51/950). Key proposals included the introduction of strategic management to strengthen unity of purpose, the establishment of the position of Deputy Secretary-General, a 10-percent reduction in posts, a reduction in administrative costs, the consolidation of the UN at the country level, and reaching out to civil society and the private sector as partners. Annan also proposed to hold a Millennium Summit in 2000.After years of research, Annan presented a progress report, In Larger Freedom, to the UN General Assembly, on 21 March 2005. Annan recommended Security Council expansion and a host of other UN reforms.

On 31 January 2006, Kofi Annan outlined his vision for a comprehensive and extensive reform of the UN in a policy speech to the United Nations Association UK. The speech, delivered at Central Hall, Westminster, also marked the 60th Anniversary of the first meetings of the General Assembly and Security Council.

On 7 March 2006, he presented to the General Assembly his proposals for a fundamental overhaul of the United Nations Secretariat. The reform report is entitled Investing in the United Nations, For a Stronger Organization Worldwide.

On 30 March 2006, he presented to the General Assembly his analysis and recommendations for updating the entire work programme of the United Nations Secretariat. The reform report is entitled: Mandating and Delivering: Analysis and Recommendations to Facilitate the Review of Mandates.

Regarding the UN Human Rights Council, Annan has said "declining credibility" had "cast a shadow on the reputation of the United Nations system. Unless we re-make our human rights machinery, we may be unable to renew public confidence in the United Nations itself." However, he does believe that, despite its flaws, the council can do good.

In March 2000, Annan appointed the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations to assess the shortcomings of the then existing system and to make specific and realistic recommendations for change. The panel was composed of individuals experienced in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. The report it produced, which became known as the Brahimi Report, after Chair of the Panel Lakhdar Brahimi, called for:

renewed political commitment on the part of Member States;

significant institutional change;

increased financial support.

The Panel further noted that in order to be effective, UN peacekeeping operations must be properly resourced and equipped, and operate under clear, credible and achievable mandates. In a letter transmitting the report to the General Assembly and Security Council, Annan stated that the Panel's recommendations were "essential to make the United Nations truly credible as a force for peace." Later that same year, the Security Council adopted several provisions relating to peacekeeping following the report, in Resolution 1327.

Millennium Development Goals

In 2000, Annan issued a report entitled "We the peoples: the role of the United Nations in the 21st century". The report called for member states to "put people at the centre of everything we do. No calling is more noble, and no responsibility greater, than that of enabling men, women and children, in cities and villages around the world, to make their lives better."

In the final chapter of the report, Annan called to "free our fellow men and women from the abject and dehumanizing poverty in which more than 1 billion of them are currently confined".:77

At the Millennium Summit in September 2000, national leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration, which was subsequently implemented by the United Nations Secretariat as the Millennium Development Goals in 2001.

United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS)

Within the "We the Peoples" document, Annan suggested the establishment of a United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS), a consortium of high-tech volunteer corps, including NetCorps Canada and Net Corps America, which United Nations Volunteers would co-ordinate. In the Report of the high-level panel of experts on information and communication technology (22 May 2000) suggesting a UN ICT Task Force, the panel welcomed the establishment of UNITeS, and made suggestions on its configuration and implementation strategy, including that ICT4D volunteering opportunities make mobilizing "national human resources" (local ICT experts) within developing countries a priority, for both men and women. The initiative was launched at the United Nations Volunteers and was active from February 2001 to February 2005. Initiative staff and volunteers participated in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva in December 2003.

The United Nations Global Compact

In an address to The World Economic Forum on 31 January 1999, Secretary-General Annan argued that the "goals of the United Nations and those of business can, indeed, be mutually supportive" and proposed that the private sector and the United Nations initiate "a global compact of shared values and principles, which will give a human face to the global market".

On 26 July 2000, the United Nations Global Compact was officially launched at UN headquarters in New York. It is a principle-based framework for businesses which aims to "Catalyse actions in support of broader UN goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)". The Compact established ten core principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption, and under the Compact, companies commit to the ten principles and are brought together with UN agencies, labour groups and civil society to effectively implement them.

Establishment of The Global Fund

Towards the end of the 1990s, increased awareness of the destructive potential of epidemics such as HIV/AIDS pushed public health issues to the top of the global development agenda. In April 2001, Annan issued a five-point "Call to Action" to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Stating it was a "personal priority", Annan proposed the establishment of a Global AIDS and Health Fund, "dedicated to the battle against HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases" to stimulate the increased international spending needed to help developing countries confront the HIV/AIDS crisis. In June of that year, the General Assembly of the United Nations committed to the creation of such a fund during a special session on AIDS, and the permanent secretariat of the Global Fund was subsequently established in January 2002.

Responsibility to Protect

Following the failure of Annan and the International Community to intervene in the genocide in Rwanda and in Srebrenica, Annan asked whether the international community had an obligation in such situations to intervene to protect civilian populations. In a speech to the General Assembly in September 1999 "to address the prospects for human security and intervention in the next century," Annan argued that individual sovereignty- the protections afforded by the Declaration of Human Rights and the Charter of the UN, were being strengthened, while the notion of state sovereignty was being redefined by globalization and international co-operation. As a result, the UN and its Member States had to re-consider their willingness to act to prevent conflict and civilian suffering.

In September 2001 the Canadian government established an ad-hoc committee to address this balance between State sovereignty and humanitarian intervention. The International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty published its final report in 2001, which focused not on the right of states to intervene but on a responsibility to protect populations at risk. The report moved beyond the question of military intervention, arguing that a range of diplomatic and humanitarian actions could also be utilized to protect civilian populations.

In 2005, Annan included the doctrine of "Responsibility to Protect" in his report Larger Freedom. when that report was endorsed by the UN General Assembly, it amounted to the first formal endorsement by UN Member States of the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect.

Iraq

In the years after 1998 when UNSCOM was expelled by the government of Saddam Hussein and during the Iraq disarmament crisis, in which the United States blamed UNSCOM and former IAEA director Hans Blix for failing to properly disarm Iraq, Scott Ritter the former UNSCOM chief weapons inspector, blamed Annan for being slow and ineffective in enforcing Security Council resolutions on Iraq and was overtly submissive to the demands of the Clinton administration for regime removal and inspection of sites, often Presidential palaces, that were not mandated in any resolution and were of questionable intelligence value, which severely hampered UNSCOM's ability to co-operate with the Iraqi government and contributed to their expulsion from the country. Ritter also claimed that Annan regularly interfered with the work of the inspectors and diluted the chain of command by trying to micromanage all of the activities of UNSCOM, which caused intelligence processing (and the resulting inspections) to be backed up and caused confusion with the Iraqis as to who was in charge and as a result, they generally refused to take orders from Ritter or Rolf Ekéus without explicit approval from Annan, which could have taken days, if not weeks. He later believed that Annan was oblivious to the fact the Iraqis took advantage of this in order to delay inspections. He claimed that on one occasion, Annan refused to implement a no-notice inspection of the SSO headquarters and instead tried to negotiate access, but the negotiation ended up taking nearly six weeks, giving the Iraqis more than enough time to clean out the site.

During the build-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Annan called on the United States and the United Kingdom not to invade without the support of the United Nations. In a September 2004 interview on the BBC, when questioned about the legal authority for the invasion, Annan said he believed it was not in conformity with the UN charter and was illegal.

Other diplomatic activities

In 1998, Annan was deeply involved in supporting the transition from military to civilian rule in Nigeria. The following year, he supported the efforts of East Timor to secure independence from Indonesia. In 2000, he was responsible for certifying Israel 's withdrawal from Lebanon, and in 2006, he led talks in New York between the presidents of Cameroon and Nigeria which led to a settlement of the dispute between the two countries over the Bakassi peninsula.

Annan and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad disagreed sharply on Iran's nuclear program, on an Iranian exhibition of cartoons mocking the Holocaust, and on the then upcoming International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust, an Iranian Holocaust denial conference in 2006. During a visit to Iran instigated by continued Iranian uranium enrichment, Annan said "I think the tragedy of the Holocaust is an undeniable historical fact and we should really accept that fact and teach people what happened in World War II and ensure it is never repeated."

Annan supported sending a UN peacekeeping mission to Darfur, Sudan. He worked with the government of Sudan to accept a transfer of power from the African Union peacekeeping mission to a UN one. Annan also worked with several Arab and Muslim countries on women's rights and other topics.

Beginning in 1998, Annan convened an annual UN "Security Council Retreat" with the 15 States' representatives of the Council. It was held at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) Conference Center at the Rockefeller family estate at Pocantico, and was sponsored by both the RBF and the UN.

Lubbers sexual-harassment investigation

In June 2004, Annan was given a copy of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) report on the complaint brought by four female workers against Ruud Lubbers, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, for sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and retaliation. The report also reviewed a long-serving staff member's allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against Werner Blatter, Director of UNHCR Personnel. The investigation found Lubbers guilty of sexual harassment; no mention was made publicly of the other charge against a senior official, or two subsequent complaints filed later that year. In the course of the official investigation, Lubbers wrote a letter which some considered was a threat to the female worker who had brought the charges. On 15 July 2004, Annan cleared Lubbers of the accusations, saying they were not substantial enough legally. His decision held until November 2004. When the OIOS issued its annual report to the UN General Assembly, it stated that it had found Lubbers guilty of sexual harassment. These events were widely reported and weakened Annan's influence.

On 17 November 2004, Annan accepted an OIOS report clearing Dileep Nair, UN Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, of political corruption and sexual harassment charges. Some UN staff in New York disagreed with this conclusion, leading to extended debate on 19 November.

The internal UN-OIOS report on Lubbers was leaked, and sections accompanied by an article by Kate Holt were published in a British newspaper. In February 2005, he resigned as head of the UN refugee agency. Lubbers said he wanted to relieve political pressure on Annan.

Oil-for-Food scandal

In December 2004, reports surfaced that the Secretary-General's son Kojo Annan received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna Inspection SA, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Programme. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations.

Annan appointed the Independent Inquiry Committee, which was led by former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, then the director of the United Nations Association of the US. In his first interview with the Inquiry Committee, Annan denied having had a meeting with Cotecna. Later in the inquiry, he recalled that he had met with Cotecna's chief executive Elie-Georges Massey twice. In a final report issued on 27 October, the committee found insufficient evidence to indict Kofi Annan on any illegal actions, but did find fault with Benon Sevan, an Armenian-Cypriot national who had worked for the UN for about 40 years. Appointed by Annan to the Oil-For-Food role, Sevan repeatedly asked Iraqis for allocations of oil to the African Middle East Petroleum Company. Sevan's behavior was "ethically improper", Volcker said to reporters. Sevan repeatedly denied the charges and argued that he was being made a "scapegoat". The Volcker report was highly critical of the UN management structure and the Security Council oversight. It strongly recommended a new position be established of Chief Operating Officer (COO), to handle the fiscal and administrative responsibilities than under the Secretary-General's office. The report listed the companies, both Western and Middle Eastern, that benefited illegally from the program.

Nobel Peace Prize

In 2001, its centennial year, the Nobel Committee decided that the Peace Prize was to be divided between the UN and Annan. He was awarded the Peace Prize for having revitalized the UN and for having given priority to human rights. The Nobel Committee also recognized his commitment to the struggle to containing the spread of HIV in Africa and his declared opposition to international terrorism.

Relations between the United States and the United Nations

Kofi Annan defended his deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown, who openly criticized the United States in a speech on 6 June 2006: "[T]he prevailing practice of seeking to use the UN almost by stealth as a diplomatic tool while failing to stand up for it against its domestic critics is simply not sustainable. You will lose the UN one way or another. [...] [That] the US is constructively engaged with the UN [...] is not well known or understood, in part because much of the public discourse that reaches the US heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest detractors such as Rush Limbaugh and Fox News." Malloch later said his talk was a "sincere and constructive critique of U.S. policy toward the U.N. by a friend and admirer."

The talk was unusual because it violated unofficial policy of not having top officials publicly criticize member nations. The interim US ambassador John R. Bolton, appointed by President George W. Bush, was reported to have told Annan on the phone: "I've known you since 1989 and I'm telling you this is the worst mistake by a senior UN official that I have seen in that entire time." Observers from other nations supported Malloch's view that conservative politicians in the US prevented many citizens from understanding the benefits of US involvement in the UN.

Farewell addresses

On 19 September 2006, Annan gave a farewell address to world leaders gathered at the UN headquarters in New York, in anticipation of his retirement on 31 December. In the speech he outlined three major problems of "an unjust world economy, world disorder, and widespread contempt for human rights and the rule of law", which he believes "have not resolved, but sharpened" during his time as Secretary-General. He also pointed to violence in Africa, and the Arab–Israeli conflict as two major issues warranting attention.

On 11 December 2006, in his final speech as Secretary-General, delivered at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri, Annan recalled Truman's leadership in the founding of the United Nations. He called for the United States to return to President Truman's multilateralist foreign policies, and to follow Truman's credo that "the responsibility of the great states is to serve and not dominate the peoples of the world". He also said that the United States must maintain its commitment to human rights, "including in the struggle against terrorism."

Post-UN career

After his service as UN Secretary-General, Annan took up residence in Geneva and worked in a leading capacity on various international humanitarian endeavors.

Kofi Annan Foundation

In 2007, Annan established the Kofi Annan Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit organization that works to promote better global governance and strengthen the capacities of people and countries to achieve a fairer, more peaceful world.

The organisation was founded on the principles that fair and peaceful societies rest on three pillars: Peace and Security, Sustainable Development, and Human Rights and the Rule of Law, and they have made it their mission to mobilise the leadership and the political resolve needed to tackle threats to these three pillars ranging from violent conflict to flawed elections and climate change, with the aim of achieving a fairer, more peaceful world.

The Foundation provides the analytical, communication and co-ordination capacities needed to ensure that these objectives are achieved. Kofi Annan's contribution to peace worldwide is delivered through mediation, political mentoring, advocacy and advice. Through his engagement, Kofi Annan aimed to strengthen local and international conflict resolution capabilities. The Foundation provides the analytical and logistical support to facilitate this in co-operation with relevant local, regional and international actors. The Foundation works mainly through private diplomacy, where Kofi Annan provided informal counsel and participates in discreet diplomatic initiatives to avert or resolve crises by applying his experience and inspirational leadership. He was often asked to intercede in crises, sometimes as an impartial independent mediator, sometimes as a special envoy of the international community. In recent years he had provided such counsel to Burkina Faso, Kenya, Myanmar, Senegal, Syria/Iraq and Colombia.

Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation Process (KNDR)

Following the outbreak of violence during the 2007 Presidential elections in Kenya, the African Union established a Panel of Eminent African Personalities to assist in finding a peaceful solution to the crisis.

The panel, headed by Annan, managed to convince the two principal parties to the conflict, President Mwai Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) and Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), to participate in the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation Process (KNDR). Over the course of 41 days of negotiations, several agreements regarding taking actions to stop the violence and remedying its consequences were signed. On 28 February President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga signed a coalition government agreement.

Joint Special Envoy for Syria

On 23 February 2012, Annan was appointed as the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, in an attempt to end the civil war taking place. He developed a six-point plan for peace:

commit to work with the Envoy in an inclusive Syrian-led political process to address the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people, and, to this end, commit to appoint an empowered interlocutor when invited to do so by the Envoy;

commit to stop the fighting and achieve urgently an effective United Nations supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to protect civilians and stabilise the country.To this end, the Syrian government should immediately cease troop movements towards, and end the use of heavy weapons in, population centres, and begin pullback of military concentrations in and around population centres.As these actions are being taken on the ground, the Syrian government should work with the Envoy to bring about a sustained cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties with an effective United Nations supervision mechanism.Similar commitments would be sought by the Envoy from the opposition and all relevant elements to stop the fighting and work with him to bring about a sustained cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties with an effective United Nations supervision mechanism;

ensure timely provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and to this end, as immediate steps, to accept and implement a daily two-hour humanitarian pause and to co-ordinate exact time and modalities of the daily pause through an efficient mechanism, including at local level;

intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons, including especially vulnerable categories of persons, and persons involved in peaceful political activities, provide without delay through appropriate channels a list of all places in which such persons are being detained, immediately begin organizing access to such locations and through appropriate channels respond promptly to all written requests for information, access or release regarding such persons;

ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists and a non-discriminatory visa policy for them;

respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully as legally guaranteed.

On 2 August, he resigned as UN and Arab League joint special envoy to Syria, citing the intransigence of both the Assad government and the rebels, as well as the stalemate on the Security Council as preventing any peaceful resolution of the situation. He also stated that the lack of international unity and ineffective diplomacy among the world leaders has made the peaceful resolution in Syria an impossible task.

Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security

Annan served as the Chair of the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security. The Commission was launched in May 2011 as a joint initiative of the Kofi Annan Foundation and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. It comprised 12 eminent individuals from around the world, including Ernesto Zedillo, Martti Ahtisaari, Madeleine Albright and Amartya Sen, and aimed to highlight the importance of the integrity of elections to achieving a more secure, prosperous and stable world. The Commission released its final report: Democracy, a Strategy to Improve the Integrity of Elections Worldwide, in September 2012.

Rakhine Commission (Myanmar)

In September 2016, Annan was asked to lead the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State (in Myanmar) – an impoverished region beset by ethnic conflict and extreme sectarian violence, particularly by Myanmar's Buddhist majority against the unpopular Rohingya Muslim minority, further targeted by by government forces. The commission, widely known simply as the "Annan Commission", was opposed by many Myanmar Buddhists as unwelcome interference in their relations with the Rohingya.

When the Annan commission released its final report, the week of 24 August 2017, with recommendations unpopular with all sides, violence exploded in the Rohingya conflict – the largest and bloodiest humanitarian disaster in the region in decades – driving most of the Rohingya from Myanmar. Annan attempted to engage the United Nations to resolve the matter, but failed.

Annan would later die on the week before the first anniversary of that event, shortly following the announcement by a replacement commission that it would not "point fingers" at the guilty parties – leading to widespread concern that the new commission was just a sham to protect culpable Myanmar government officials and citizens from accountability.

In 2018, before Annan's death, Myanmar's civilian government, under the direction of State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi, made a gesture of acceptance of the Annan commission's recommendations by convening another board -- the Advisory Board for the Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine State -- ostensibly to implement the Annan commission's proposed reforms, but never actually implemented them. Some of the international representatives resigned -- notably the panel's Secretary, Thailand's former foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai, and former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson -- decrying the "implementation" committee as ineffective, or a "whitewash."

Other activities

Corporate boards

In March 2011, Annan became a member of the Advisory Board for Investcorp Bank B. S. C. Europe, an international private equity firm and sovereign wealth fund owned by the United Arab Emirates. He held the position until 2018.

Annan became member of the Global Advisory Board of Macro Advisory Partners LLP, Risk and strategic consulting firm based in London and New York, for business, finance and government decision-makers, with some operations related to Investcorp.

Non-profit organizations

In addition to the above, Annan also became involved with several organizations with both global and African focuses, including the following:

United Nations Foundation, Member of the Board of Directors (2008-2018)

University of Ghana, Chancellor (2008-2018)

School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University, Global Fellow (2009)

The Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University, Fellow

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Li Ka Shing Professor (2009-2018)

Global Centre for Pluralism, Member of the Board of Directors (2010-2018)

Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, Chairman of the Prize Committee (2007-2018)

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Chairman (2007-2018)

Global Humanitarian Forum, President (2007-2018)

Annan served as Chair of The Elders, a group of independent global leaders who work together on peace and human rights issues. In November 2008, Annan and fellow Elders Jimmy Carter and Graça Machel attempted to travel to Zimbabwe to make a first-hand assessment of the humanitarian situation in the country. Refused entry, the Elders instead carried out their assessment from Johannesburg, where they met Zimbabwe- and South Africa-based leaders from politics, business, international organisations and civil society. In May 2011, following months of political violence in Côte d'Ivoire, Annan travelled to the country with Elders Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson to encourage national reconciliation. On 16 October 2014, Kofi Annan attended the One Young World Summit in Dublin. During a session with fellow Elder Mary Robinson, Kofi Annan encouraged 1,300 young leaders from 191 countries to lead on intergenerational issues such as climate change and the need for action to take place now, not tomorrow. During the Summit he told leaders from 191 countries that addressing the effects of climate change was a general issue, for both the young and old.

"We don't have to wait to act. The action must be now. You will come across people who think we should start tomorrow. Even for those who believe action should begin tomorrow, remind them tomorrow begins now, tomorrow begins today, so lets all move forward."

Annan chaired the Africa Progress Panel (APP), a group of ten distinguished individuals who advocate at the highest levels for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. As Chair, he facilitates coalition building to leverage and broker knowledge, in addition to convening decision-makers to influence policy and create lasting change in Africa. Every year, the Panel releases a report, the Africa Progress Report, that outlines an issue of immediate importance to the continent and suggests a set of associated policies. In 2014, the Africa Progress Report highlighted the potential of African fisheries, agriculture and forests to drive economic development. The 2015 report explores the role of climate change and the potential of renewable energy investments in determining Africa's economic future.

Memoir

On 4 September 2012, Annan with Nader Mousavizadeh wrote a memoir, Interventions: A Life in War and Peace. Published by Penguin Press, the book was described as a "personal biography of global statecraft".

Personal life and death

In 1965, Kofi Annan married Titi Alakija, a Nigerian woman from an aristocratic family. Several years later they had a daughter, Ama, and later a son, Kojo. The couple separated in the late 1970s, and divorced in 1983. In 1984, Annan married Nane Annan, a Swedish lawyer at the UN and a maternal half-niece of diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. She has a daughter, Nina, from a previous marriage.

Annan died on the morning of 18 August 2018 in Bern, Switzerland, at the age of 80 after a short illness.

[chrisciovacco]

How Was The Collective Mood As Stocks Started A 19-Year Secular Bull Run In 1982?

Stocks Must Overcome 2017 Gloom

Even with the backdrop of numerous positive technical developments, it may be difficult to envision the stock market moving higher given skepticism has been lingering for several years. The tone of reporting from this week’s World Economic Forum has had a decidedly pessimistic slant. From the International Business Times:

DAVOS, Switzerland — Despite the usual trappings of revelry here in the Swiss Alps at the World Economic Forum, an unfamiliar mood grips the proceedings: gloom. World leaders and people in charge of money are nursing angst over the potentially perilous state of the global economy. They confront an overwhelming array of crises all at once — China’s economic slowdown, the collapse of energy prices, plunging stock markets, confusion over monetary policy, conflict in the Middle East, an attendant surge of refugees into Europe, and the ever-present threat of terrorist attacks.

What Can We Learn From History?

In this article, we will examine one question and one question only:

Is it possible for stocks to successfully hold a breakout from a long-term consolidation pattern when the social mood and news of the day have a pessimistic slant?

How Was The Mood Back In 1982?

If you followed the news back in 1982, it would have been difficult to imagine the S&P 500 had already started what eventually became an 18-year secular rise. As you scan the bullet points below from the Wikipedia 1982 page, try to imagine the physiological impact of weekly headlines that included wars, bankruptcies, plane crashes, high unemployment, geopolitical strife, a debt crisis, and acts of terror:

Unemployment in the United Kingdom increases by 129,918 to 3,070,621, a post-war record number.

Mark Thatcher, son of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara during the Dakar Rally; he is rescued January 14.

Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90 crashes into Washington, D.C.’s 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78. On the same day, a Washington Metro train derails to the north, killing 3 (the system’s first fatal accident).

Four Northrop T-38 aircraft of the United States Air Force Thunderbirds Demonstration Squadron crash at Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field, Nevada, killing all 4 pilots.

The first computer virus, the Elk Cloner, written by 15-year old Rich Skrenta, is found. It infects Apple II computers via floppy disk.

The Hama massacre begins in Syria.

Syrian president Hafez al-Assad orders the army to purge the city of Harran of the Muslim Brotherhood.

London-based Laker Airways collapses, leaving 6,000 stranded passengers and debts of $270 million.

Japan Airlines Flight 350 crashes in Tokyo Bay due to thrust reversal on approach to Tokyo International Airport, killing 24 among the 174 people on board.

The oil platform Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing all 84 rig workers aboard.

The DeLorean Motor Company Car Factory in Belfast is put into receivership.

Atlanta murders of 1979–81: Wayne Williams is convicted of murdering 2 adult men and is sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

The United States places an embargo on Libyan oil imports, alleging Libyan support for terrorist groups.

In Newport, Rhode Island, Claus von Bülow is found guilty of the attempted murder of his wife.

The Falklands War begins: Argentina invades and occupies the Falkland Islands.

A blizzard unprecedented in size for April dumps 1–2 feet of snow on the northeastern United States, closing schools and businesses, and snarling traffic.

British troops retake South Georgia during Operation Paraquet.

The nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano, killing 323 sailors. Operation Algeciras, an attempt to destroy a Royal Navy warship in Gibraltar, fails.

HMS Sheffield is hit by an Exocet missile, and burns out of control; 20 sailors are killed. The ship sinks on May 10.

A Unabomber bomb explodes in the computer science department at Vanderbilt University; secretary Janet Smith is injured.

French-Canadian racing driver Gilles Villeneuve is killed during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Spanish priest Juan María Fernández y Krohn tries to stab Pope John Paul II with a bayonet during the latter’s pilgrimage to the shrine at Fátima.

Braniff International Airways is declared bankrupt and ceases all flights.

The British Special Air Service launches an operation to destroy three Argentinean Exocet missiles and five Super Étendard fighter-bombers in mainland Argentina. It fails when the Argentineans discover the plot.

British landings spark the Battle of San Carlos.

HMS Ardent is sunk by Argentine aircraft, killing 22 sailors.

HMS Antelope is lost.

Iranian troops retake Khorramshahr.

KGB head Yuri Andropov is appointed to the Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

British ships HMS Coventry and SS Atlantic Conveyor are sunk during the Falklands War; Coventry by two A-4C Skyhawks and the latter sunk by an Exocet.

The 1982 Lebanon War begins: Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon in their “Operation Peace for the Galilee,” eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.

The United Nations Security Council votes to demand that Israel withdraw its troops from Lebanon.

British ship RFA Sir Galahad is destroyed during the Bluff Cove Air Attacks.

VASP Flight 168, a Boeing 727 passenger jet, crashes into forest Fortaleza, killing 137.

The Nuclear Disarmament Rally, an event against nuclear weapon proliferation, draws 750,000 to New York City’s Central Park.

The body of “God’s Banker”, Roberto Calvi, chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, is found hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London.

British Airways Flight 9 suffers a temporary four-engine flameout and damage to the exterior of the plane, after flying through the otherwise undetected ash plume from Indonesia’s Mount Galunggung.

ASLEF train drivers in the United Kingdom go on strike over hours of work.

Four Iranian diplomats are kidnapped upon Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.

Pan Am Flight 759 (Boeing 727) crashes in Kenner, Louisiana, killing all 146 on board and 8 on the ground.

Intruder Michael Fagan breaches Buckingham Palace security as far as into the bedroom of Elizabeth II.

Checker Motors Corporation ceases production of automobiles.

Geoffrey Prime, a GCHQ civil servant, is remanded in custody on charges under the Official Secrets Act 1911.

In New York City, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon is sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $25,000 for tax fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

William Whitelaw, Home Secretary, announces that Michael Trestrail (the Queen’s bodyguard) has resigned from the Metropolitan Police Service over a relationship with a male prostitute.

Hyde Park and Regent’s Park bombings: the Provisional IRA detonates 2 bombs in central London, killing 8 soldiers, wounding 47 people, and leading to the deaths of 7 horses.

A coroner’s jury returns a verdict of suicide on Roberto Calvi, who was found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge.

Torrential rain and mudslides in Nagasaki, Japan destroy bridges and kill 299.

On a movie set, the Twilight Zone actor Vic Morrow and 2 child actors die in a helicopter stunt accident.

In Beaune, France, 53 persons, 46 of them children, die in a highway accident (France’s worst).

Attempted coup against government of Daniel Arap Moi in Kenya.

The United Nations Security Council votes to censure Israel because its troops are still in Lebanon.

Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Spadolini resigns.

Mexico announces it is unable to pay its large foreign debt, triggering a debt crisis that quickly spreads throughout Latin America.

Lebanese Civil War: A multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the PLO withdrawal from Lebanon. French troops arrive August 21, U.S. Marines August 25.

Italian general Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa is killed in a Mafia ambush.

Iowa paperboy Johnny Gosch is kidnapped.

Lebanese President-elect Bachir Gemayel is assassinated in Beirut.

A Lebanese Christian militia (the Phalange) kill thousands of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in West Beirut, the massacre is a response to the assassination of president-elect, Bachir Gemayel four days earlier.

The NFL Players Association calls a strike, the first in-season work stoppage in the National Football League’s 63-year history.

The Wimpy Operation, first act of armed resistance against Israeli troops in Beirut.

In Israel, 400,000 marchers demand the resignation of Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

The Chicago Tylenol murders occur when 7 people in the Chicago area die after ingesting capsules laced with potassium cyanide.

Helmut Kohl replaces Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor of Germany through a constructive vote of no confidence.

John DeLorean is arrested for selling cocaine to undercover FBI agents.

Luzhniki disaster: During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death.

A gasoline or petrol tanker explodes in the Salang Tunnel in Afghanistan, killing at least 176 people.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surges 43.41 points, or 4.25%, to close at 1,065.49, its first all-time high in more than 9 years. It last hit a record on January 11, 1973, when the average closed at 1,051.70. The points gain is the biggest ever up to this point.

In Lebanon, the first Tyre headquarters bombing kills between 89 and 102 people.

The Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day fire destroys an entire city block of downtown Minneapolis, including the headquarters of Northwestern National Bank.

The first U.S. execution by lethal injection is carried out in Texas.

The December murders occur in Suriname.

The 6.0 Ms North Yemen earthquake shakes southwestern Yemen with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing 2,800.

The United Freedom Front bombs an office of South African Airways in Elmont, NY and an IBM office in Harrison, NY.

Why 1982?

From Yahoo Finance:

In the last 81 years, there have been only two “outside years” before 2016: 1935 and 1982. Both of these years were followed by the S&P enjoying double-digit gains — +28% in 1936, and +17% in 1983 — which potentially sets the table for a monster rally into 2017.

There are several technical occurrences in the present day that are similar to the early 1980s. For example, the S&P 500 broke out of a consolidation box in 1982 by exceeding the high that was made nine years earlier in 1973. In 2013, the S&P 500 exceeded the highs from both 2000 and 2007, which represents a significant long-term breakout for equities. 2016 also represented a very rare “outside year”, an event that last occurred in 1982. The concept of an outside year was covered in detail on December 30.

More Recent History Also Features Consolidation

The concept of consolidation followed by a breakout or breakdown applies to all timeframes. The chart above shows a consolidation box that was in play between 1997 and 2013. A more recent view of the S&P 500 also features a consolidation box that dates back to 2014 on a monthly chart. Stocks are currently holding onto a bullish breakout from the 2014-2016 consolidation box.

How Vulnerable Is The 2017 Market?

This week’s stock market video looks at the longer-term health of the current rally in stocks. Are longer-term cracks starting to appear?

After you click play, use the button in the lower-right corner of the video player to view in full-screen mode. Hit Esc to exit full-screen mode.

The Broad Market Has Been Consolidating For 19 Years

Similar to the multiple-year consolidation that preceded the 1982 breakout in stocks, the present day market also features a consolidation box that started forming back in 1997. As of this writing, the NYSE Composite Stock Index is holding above the orange consolidation box shown below.

The View From 30,000 Feet

If we double back to the first chart in this article, it is easier to see how the concept of consolidation and breakouts may apply to 2017 and beyond. There were plenty of reasons to be pessimistic in 1982, and yet stocks were able to advance after breaking out.

2017 Is Significantly Different From 1982

Our purpose is not to say 2017 is 1982. In fact, 2017 is a unique year that will be different from every other year in human history. The same can be said for every year; they all follow a different fundamental and technical script.

History reminds us that the recent bullish breakouts from long-term stock market consolidation patterns do not necessarily need to be coupled with widespread optimism for stocks to advance over the next several years. Almost no one was expecting an 18-year secular bull run in stocks given the news of the day in 1982, and yet, that is exactly what happened.

Before a lot of energy is wasted on the differences between 1982 and 2017, keep in mind our purpose was to examine one question and one question only:

Is it possible for stocks to successfully hold a breakout from a long-term consolidation pattern when the social mood and news of the day have a pessimistic slant?

Notice the term “possible” is used above, meaning all bearish scenarios also remain in the realm of possibility. This exercise helps us remain open to all outcomes, not just the pessimistic outcomes often covered in the media. Time will tell.

[mastcomm]

Lagos docs start indefinite sit-at-home from at present

File Photograph: Nigerian docs attending to Coronavirus affected person

The Nigerian Medical Affiliation in Lagos has directed its members to instantly proceed on an indefinite sit-at-home strike ranging from 6.00 p.m on Wednesday.

The affiliation gave the directive in a joint assertion signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Dr. Saliu Oseni, and Dr. Ramon Moronkola, respectively in Lagos.

This resolution was taker after the police in Lagos on Tuesday mounted roadblocks in several elements of Lagos by 8.00 p.m to strengthen compliance of the curfew.

In addition they allegedly arrested some folks, together with important employees that have been presumed to have flouted the curfew directive.

The NMA leaders stated that their resolution was on account of the conflicting directives by the state authorities and regulation enforcement brokers on the standing of important employees, together with docs and different well being employees.

The docs additionally stated that their motion was necessitated following incessant harassment of healthcare employees in Lagos by the safety brokers.

“The Lagos State Department of the NMA has resolved that it’s presently unsafe for its members to proceed to supply healthcare providers beneath the current confused association.

“We resolve that each one docs beneath the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Affiliation in Lagos to proceed on a sit-at-home ranging from 6.00 p.m at present, Could 20, indefinitely.

“Till such time when the state authorities and the Commissioner of Police, are clear on how they want to operationalize the lockdown/restriction of motion directive because it pertains to important service and repair suppliers, together with healthcare providers and docs,” the NMA leaders stated.

They demanded a written assertion, signed by the state authorities and the suitable police authorities, with clear phrases on the standing of important providers, together with healthcare providers and its suppliers, needs to be issued.

“It needs to be marketed within the social and mainstream media, and a replica submitted to the Secretariat of the Lagos State Department of NMA.

“Whereas, the directives of President Muhamadu Buhari, via the Presidential Activity Drive on COVID-19, was clear on the exemption of important employees together with docs and different well being employees from the continuing lockdown/motion restrictions.

“The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr Hakeem Odumosu, has been issuing conflicting directives on social and mainstream media to the impact that important employees, together with docs and different well being employees, aren’t exempted.

“As a direct results of the conflicting directives of the federal government and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, the Lagos State department of Nigerian Medical Affiliation (NMA) was inundated yesterday night with a number of instances of harassments and intimidation of docs and different health-workers by officers and males of the Police Command in Lagos State.

“The healthcare employees have been both resuming responsibility, returning dwelling, or on-transit to heed an emergency name.

“There was a most annoying case of an ambulance conveying an injured affected person which was prevented from shifting to a vacation spot, whereas the attending well being employees have been harassed and quickly detained,” the NMA stated.

They recalled {that a} related scenario occurred generally within the early part of the continuing lockdown/restriction of motion based mostly on related conflicting directives from the Commissioner of Police.

“It took the intervention of the State Governor, following a petition by the affiliation, for normalcy to be restored,” they stated.

In response to them, it’s presently unclear how the state authorities and the CSP want to operationalize the lockdown/restriction of motion directive, vis-à-vis the standing of important employees.

The Federal Authorities had ordered an 8.00p.m to six.00a.m curfew, and an interstate restriction of motion nationwide, in a bid to comprise the unfold of COVID-19.

The federal government, nevertheless, exempted healthcare employees, media, agriculture, oil, and fuel, amongst others, as important employees.

The Commissioner of Police had earlier introduced that the brand new directive from the Inspector Common of Police was that everybody needs to be at dwelling at 8.00 p.m, together with important employees, NAN reported.

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com.ng/metro/lagos-docs-start-indefinite-sit-at-home-from-at-present/

[whittlebaggett8]

Could Offensive Cyber Capabilities Tip India and Pakistan to War?

The escalation challenges in South Asia stemming from offensive cyber capabilities will have to be thoroughly regarded.

By Reda Baig for The Diplomat

March 26, 2019

Tensions ratcheted up in South Asia subsequent the Pulwama suicide bombing towards Indian law enforcement forces on February 14 and India’s retaliatory strikes towards Pakistan. Whilst officers from the two countries satisfied a few of weeks ago, the conference did not sign a definitive thaw in relations. The intercontinental neighborhood fears more escalation, in this minute or in a long term disaster, which could direct to an all-out war between two nuclear-armed powers.

Although gurus have focused on the hazard of a kinetic conflict breaking out, they should really give extra awareness to the likely for conflict in the cyber domain. In new decades, both equally nations have developed up their cyber technology abilities and arsenals. Exercise in cyberspace could subject in two methods: initially, contributing to escalation and encouraging to provide about a conflict and next, being portion of a “hybrid” kinetic and cyber conflict.

The role of cyber in escalation or conflict could go considerably outside of the website defacements that accentuated the latest tensions. The cyber element of conflict is an emerging still understudied dimension of geopolitics, and specialists ought to contemplate it when analyzing the most current safety developments involving India and Pakistan and the upcoming trajectory of South Asia.

Taking pleasure in this report? Click on here to subscribe for total obtain. Just $5 a month.

When both of those countries are responding to the rise in cyberattacks with national techniques and enhanced defensive capabilities, we do not know how they will established the policies when it comes to offensive cyber functions. We do know the two international locations are pursuing cybersecurity to defend towards cyberattacks.

India has been establishing nationwide cybersecurity guidelines to deal with the rise in persistent cyberattacks. The place is vulnerable to cyberattacks—it was ranked as the 2nd most vulnerable nation-condition specific by cyberattacks in a survey by stability corporation Symantec. As India’s economic system has shifted toward facts and communications engineering (ICT), which includes facts engineering solutions, commerce, and banking sectors, there are considerations of cyberespionage and cyberattacks using put from Indian industries and corporations.

In simple fact, according to a examine commissioned by the Significant Court docket of India, cyber-associated crimes cost Indian corporations $4 billion in 2013. This has led the government and non-public sector to raise their endeavours to protect these industries. Back again in 2013, India unveiled its National Cyber Protection plan. This policy outlined measures the authorities would take in shielding India’s essential infrastructure. Nonetheless, lots of critics position out this national plan has finished tiny to suppress cyberattacks as there is no way to implement lots of of its policies.

Pakistan is also on warn, nevertheless it does not have a nationwide cybersecurity approach document, even with attempts in Islamabad to create a framework that will defend important establishments from cyberattacks. These efforts have been motivated in component by the Edward Snowden leaks, which in-depth the U.S. Countrywide Protection Agency’s spying on Pakistan and were an inflection stage for Pakistani federal government officials, as they understood they needed to tackle the gaps in their data stability. A nationwide Cyber Protection Tactic was presented to the Countrywide Assembly, but no headway has been created nevertheless on utilizing the proposed actions, which provided the development of a national CERT and an Inter-Expert services Cyber Command Center that would streamline cyber defense for Pakistan’s Army. Pakistan however does not have an formal national cybersecurity approach.

Both countries’ safety postures are transforming slowly to introduce cybersecurity. Having said that, there is nevertheless not adequate details accessible on what kinds of technologies these countries have and how built-in these systems are in India and Pakistan’s national security approaches. There are experiences that the two nations have engaged in offensive cyber functions. Each individual country has their personal cyberespionage division, which siphons critical information and facts from other nationwide-states’ safety and intelligence businesses.

India introduced Operation Hangover that has targeted Pakistan and, in response, Pakistan spearheaded Procedure Arachnophobia, which sought to receive intelligence from Indian officers. While these functions are nicely-identified, there is even now a deficiency of awareness on how considerably each individual place spends on cyber technologies and the sorts of systems they are employing. India is one of the premier spenders on armed service, yet the cybersecurity budget is “inadequate” for the expanding cyber danger.

Knowing cyber abilities is significant simply because they can adjust geopolitical calculations. For instance, the reduced price of entry for offensive cyber abilities positive aspects fewer resourced actors, and “offense preference” in cyberspace will make it less difficult to be successful on offense than at protection.

What role does China engage in in all of this? China enjoys good relations with Pakistan, a romantic relationship that spans many many years. On the other hand, China’s romance with India has been tumultuous, with relations the moment so tense that it led to the Sino-Indo War of 1962. Because then, the two nations have been embroiled in border skirmishes, and a mounting India places the full region in a state of flux.

Quite a few of the cyberattacks that India faces can be attributed back again to China, as highlighted in a the latest report to the Nationwide Stability Council Secretariat by a office in the Ministry of Electronics and Info Engineering. Subsequent the Pulwama attack and the escalating tensions concerning India and Pakistan, China has sought to assure a war does not split out. If a war did erupt, simply because of China’s close relationship with Pakistan, Beijing would be more inclined to offer guidance to Islamabad. This aid could contain cyber abilities and actions, as China is far far more superior in this arena.

Both of those India and Pakistan previously interact in cyberattacks and espionage campaigns in opposition to 1 another. The presently marred relationship can deteriorate additional if equally international locations keep on employing cyber systems for offensive uses.

Extra investigation desires to be finished to fully grasp the cyber capabilities of each region, how each individual country options to integrate these abilities into their nationwide stability methods, how cyber abilities could perform into escalation or conflict in the location, and how cyber-enabled escalation or conflict could be managed. Looking at the threats of all-out war involving these two powers and the significance of cyber capabilities to escalation and conflict in the location, investigating these concerns and equipping regional gurus with an knowing of them, just before cyber capabilities incorporate gasoline to an by now tinderbox problem, is important.

Reda Baig is a Cyber Possibility Associate at Fantastic Harbor Security Risk Management and a graduate college student at the George Washington College. 

The post Could Offensive Cyber Capabilities Tip India and Pakistan to War? appeared first on Defence Online.

from WordPress https://defenceonline.com/2019/03/25/could-offensive-cyber-capabilities-tip-india-and-pakistan-to-war/

[teiraymondmccoy78]

Swiss on a roll to regulate crypto, blockchain space

Swiss on a roll to regulate crypto, blockchain space

Representations of the Ripple, Bitcoin, Etherum and Litecoin virtual currencies are seen on a motherboard in this illustration picture. Photo: Reuters.

The health and sustainability of the crypto and blockchain space can be measured by the jobs market, as well as the development of education offerings to ensure projects and start-ups have a diverse pool of blockchain talent to build their teams.

While these endeavours have enhanced credibility, the real showcase of blockchain’s future viability is reflected in the wave of momentum on the regulatory front over the past year, with governments across the world making inroads in defining their respective approaches to regulation. 

Developing regulation for a  sustainable ecosystem takes time, and involves striking the right balance between clear rules and flexible implementation. 

The Swiss jurisdiction is reaping the benefits of years of methodical work in crafting regulation that nurtures innovation while ensuring the highest standards in security and transparency. 

Switzerland’s willingness to evolve with the needs of industry was underlined in December last year, when the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF) report detailed the country’s regulatory framework regarding cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. 

The Federal Council’s report, Legal framework for DLT and blockchain in Switzerland, stated the opinion and intention of the executive body of the Swiss government. 

The content of the report also reaffirmed the primacy of the Swiss jurisdiction when it comes to promoting a sustainable crypto and blockchain economy.

That is not to say that significant progress hasn’t been made elsewhere.

  It has. 

Assessing the global landscape, it is clear that regulation is becoming a top priority for governments, with many facilitating collaborations with key industry leaders in their jurisdictions to ensure any framework is at least in part informed by the needs of industry 

We are seeing a marked decrease in the outright banning of crypto and a sustained awareness of the risks involved. 

The landscape remains diverse among the countries, in terms of regulatory depth and timing.

It is encouraging to see regional bodies beginning to take decisive action to put legislation into effect. In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) identified cryptocurrencies as a main focus this year for the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE). 

Stateside innovation around blockchain technology looks to be taking shape, and this month, New York state announced the creation of a crypto task force with the goal of submitting legislative proposals by December next year. The task force will focus on cryptocurrencies, other forms of digital currency, and the underlying blockchain technology. 

Regulatory advances in the Asia-Pacific region have seen Singapore and Japan emerge  at the head of the pack, while South Korea is reconsidering its earlier position. 

In July last year, the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) launched the Financial Innovation Bureau, a division dedicated to develop policy initiatives around financial innovation, with a sharp focus on cryptocurrencies. 

Last month, the country’s National Assembly passed legislation geared towards laying the legal foundation to introduce a regulatory sandbox for innovative financial services.

 The Financial Innovation Support Act will come into force in March, and will enable fintech firms to test their new services with regulatory exemptions for a certain period of time.

These developments should be celebrated by the global blockchain and crypto community. Together, we are accelerating the research and implementation of distributed ledger technology. 

However, there is a reason Switzerland has hosted 15 percent of the world’s top 100 ICOs, and recent efforts represent significant steps towards consolidating its position as the premier crypto nation. 

In December 2018, along with the report on DLT regulation, the Swiss Federal Council, with FINMA, implemented a Fintech licence, aiming to create an adequate, technology-neutral regulatory framework for any business that needs to accept deposits from the public without engaging in typical commercial banking activities.

The council report articulates Switzerland’s unique approach to regulation, distinguishing itself from competitive jurisdictions such as Malta and Lichtenstein. Switzerland does not foresee the need to create a new law dedicated to blockchain, but intends to “surgically” adjust the existing legal framework as much as necessary to support the development of the Swiss blockchain ecosystem. 

Thus, Switzerland considers the blockchain and crypto ecosystem an integral part of the broader development of its economy and not as a special sector in need of a dedicated legislative attention.

The targeted adjustments to the current laws envisaged by the council are quite pointed, and demonstrate the ongoing efforts to evolve with the needs of industry. 

Adjustments include implementing a legally secure transfer of uncertified securities by means of entries in decentralised registers, providing unambiguous rules regarding the segregation of crypto-based assets from a bankrupt estate, and introducing a new financial markets infrastructure authorisation category for both retail and regulated participants.

. With these targets, Switzerland makes a very effective leap forward compared to other jurisdictions in terms of crypto business conditions,  without upending a generally harmonious legislative framework which has been perfected over time.

The report also takes a firm stance on key risks such as anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CFT) and blockchain-specific operational risks while giving expression to Swiss commitment to lead and align to the international (FATF) effort and highlight the key AML-CFT challenges. 

On the operational risk score, the report emphasises the dependence of data availability and integrity on security standards at each node on the blockchain, data management and protection issues, as well as the link between effective governance of DLT systems and the quality of encryption technology which is dynamic and human-dependent.

Mattia Rattaggi is chairperson of the regulatory and policy working group of the Crypto Valley Association. 

PERSONAL FINANCE 

Source link http://bit.ly/2tlwlXj

[adrianjenkins952wblr]

Swiss on a roll to regulate crypto, blockchain space

Swiss on a roll to regulate crypto, blockchain space

Representations of the Ripple, Bitcoin, Etherum and Litecoin virtual currencies are seen on a motherboard in this illustration picture. Photo: Reuters.

The health and sustainability of the crypto and blockchain space can be measured by the jobs market, as well as the development of education offerings to ensure projects and start-ups have a diverse pool of blockchain talent to build their teams.

While these endeavours have enhanced credibility, the real showcase of blockchain’s future viability is reflected in the wave of momentum on the regulatory front over the past year, with governments across the world making inroads in defining their respective approaches to regulation. 

Developing regulation for a  sustainable ecosystem takes time, and involves striking the right balance between clear rules and flexible implementation. 

The Swiss jurisdiction is reaping the benefits of years of methodical work in crafting regulation that nurtures innovation while ensuring the highest standards in security and transparency. 

Switzerland’s willingness to evolve with the needs of industry was underlined in December last year, when the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF) report detailed the country’s regulatory framework regarding cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. 

The Federal Council’s report, Legal framework for DLT and blockchain in Switzerland, stated the opinion and intention of the executive body of the Swiss government. 

The content of the report also reaffirmed the primacy of the Swiss jurisdiction when it comes to promoting a sustainable crypto and blockchain economy.

That is not to say that significant progress hasn’t been made elsewhere.

  It has. 

Assessing the global landscape, it is clear that regulation is becoming a top priority for governments, with many facilitating collaborations with key industry leaders in their jurisdictions to ensure any framework is at least in part informed by the needs of industry 

We are seeing a marked decrease in the outright banning of crypto and a sustained awareness of the risks involved. 

The landscape remains diverse among the countries, in terms of regulatory depth and timing.

It is encouraging to see regional bodies beginning to take decisive action to put legislation into effect. In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) identified cryptocurrencies as a main focus this year for the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE). 

Stateside innovation around blockchain technology looks to be taking shape, and this month, New York state announced the creation of a crypto task force with the goal of submitting legislative proposals by December next year. The task force will focus on cryptocurrencies, other forms of digital currency, and the underlying blockchain technology. 

Regulatory advances in the Asia-Pacific region have seen Singapore and Japan emerge  at the head of the pack, while South Korea is reconsidering its earlier position. 

In July last year, the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) launched the Financial Innovation Bureau, a division dedicated to develop policy initiatives around financial innovation, with a sharp focus on cryptocurrencies. 

Last month, the country’s National Assembly passed legislation geared towards laying the legal foundation to introduce a regulatory sandbox for innovative financial services.

 The Financial Innovation Support Act will come into force in March, and will enable fintech firms to test their new services with regulatory exemptions for a certain period of time.

These developments should be celebrated by the global blockchain and crypto community. Together, we are accelerating the research and implementation of distributed ledger technology. 

However, there is a reason Switzerland has hosted 15 percent of the world’s top 100 ICOs, and recent efforts represent significant steps towards consolidating its position as the premier crypto nation. 

In December 2018, along with the report on DLT regulation, the Swiss Federal Council, with FINMA, implemented a Fintech licence, aiming to create an adequate, technology-neutral regulatory framework for any business that needs to accept deposits from the public without engaging in typical commercial banking activities.

The council report articulates Switzerland’s unique approach to regulation, distinguishing itself from competitive jurisdictions such as Malta and Lichtenstein. Switzerland does not foresee the need to create a new law dedicated to blockchain, but intends to “surgically” adjust the existing legal framework as much as necessary to support the development of the Swiss blockchain ecosystem. 

Thus, Switzerland considers the blockchain and crypto ecosystem an integral part of the broader development of its economy and not as a special sector in need of a dedicated legislative attention.

The targeted adjustments to the current laws envisaged by the council are quite pointed, and demonstrate the ongoing efforts to evolve with the needs of industry. 

Adjustments include implementing a legally secure transfer of uncertified securities by means of entries in decentralised registers, providing unambiguous rules regarding the segregation of crypto-based assets from a bankrupt estate, and introducing a new financial markets infrastructure authorisation category for both retail and regulated participants.

. With these targets, Switzerland makes a very effective leap forward compared to other jurisdictions in terms of crypto business conditions,  without upending a generally harmonious legislative framework which has been perfected over time.

The report also takes a firm stance on key risks such as anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CFT) and blockchain-specific operational risks while giving expression to Swiss commitment to lead and align to the international (FATF) effort and highlight the key AML-CFT challenges. 

On the operational risk score, the report emphasises the dependence of data availability and integrity on security standards at each node on the blockchain, data management and protection issues, as well as the link between effective governance of DLT systems and the quality of encryption technology which is dynamic and human-dependent.

Mattia Rattaggi is chairperson of the regulatory and policy working group of the Crypto Valley Association. 

PERSONAL FINANCE 

Source link http://bit.ly/2tlwlXj

[courtneyvbrooks87]

Swiss on a roll to regulate crypto, blockchain space

Swiss on a roll to regulate crypto, blockchain space

Representations of the Ripple, Bitcoin, Etherum and Litecoin virtual currencies are seen on a motherboard in this illustration picture. Photo: Reuters.

The health and sustainability of the crypto and blockchain space can be measured by the jobs market, as well as the development of education offerings to ensure projects and start-ups have a diverse pool of blockchain talent to build their teams.

While these endeavours have enhanced credibility, the real showcase of blockchain’s future viability is reflected in the wave of momentum on the regulatory front over the past year, with governments across the world making inroads in defining their respective approaches to regulation. 

Developing regulation for a  sustainable ecosystem takes time, and involves striking the right balance between clear rules and flexible implementation. 

The Swiss jurisdiction is reaping the benefits of years of methodical work in crafting regulation that nurtures innovation while ensuring the highest standards in security and transparency. 

Switzerland’s willingness to evolve with the needs of industry was underlined in December last year, when the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF) report detailed the country’s regulatory framework regarding cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. 

The Federal Council’s report, Legal framework for DLT and blockchain in Switzerland, stated the opinion and intention of the executive body of the Swiss government. 

The content of the report also reaffirmed the primacy of the Swiss jurisdiction when it comes to promoting a sustainable crypto and blockchain economy.

That is not to say that significant progress hasn’t been made elsewhere.

  It has. 

Assessing the global landscape, it is clear that regulation is becoming a top priority for governments, with many facilitating collaborations with key industry leaders in their jurisdictions to ensure any framework is at least in part informed by the needs of industry 

We are seeing a marked decrease in the outright banning of crypto and a sustained awareness of the risks involved. 

The landscape remains diverse among the countries, in terms of regulatory depth and timing.

It is encouraging to see regional bodies beginning to take decisive action to put legislation into effect. In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) identified cryptocurrencies as a main focus this year for the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE). 

Stateside innovation around blockchain technology looks to be taking shape, and this month, New York state announced the creation of a crypto task force with the goal of submitting legislative proposals by December next year. The task force will focus on cryptocurrencies, other forms of digital currency, and the underlying blockchain technology. 

Regulatory advances in the Asia-Pacific region have seen Singapore and Japan emerge  at the head of the pack, while South Korea is reconsidering its earlier position. 

In July last year, the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) launched the Financial Innovation Bureau, a division dedicated to develop policy initiatives around financial innovation, with a sharp focus on cryptocurrencies. 

Last month, the country’s National Assembly passed legislation geared towards laying the legal foundation to introduce a regulatory sandbox for innovative financial services.

 The Financial Innovation Support Act will come into force in March, and will enable fintech firms to test their new services with regulatory exemptions for a certain period of time.

These developments should be celebrated by the global blockchain and crypto community. Together, we are accelerating the research and implementation of distributed ledger technology. 

However, there is a reason Switzerland has hosted 15 percent of the world’s top 100 ICOs, and recent efforts represent significant steps towards consolidating its position as the premier crypto nation. 

In December 2018, along with the report on DLT regulation, the Swiss Federal Council, with FINMA, implemented a Fintech licence, aiming to create an adequate, technology-neutral regulatory framework for any business that needs to accept deposits from the public without engaging in typical commercial banking activities.

The council report articulates Switzerland’s unique approach to regulation, distinguishing itself from competitive jurisdictions such as Malta and Lichtenstein. Switzerland does not foresee the need to create a new law dedicated to blockchain, but intends to “surgically” adjust the existing legal framework as much as necessary to support the development of the Swiss blockchain ecosystem. 

Thus, Switzerland considers the blockchain and crypto ecosystem an integral part of the broader development of its economy and not as a special sector in need of a dedicated legislative attention.

The targeted adjustments to the current laws envisaged by the council are quite pointed, and demonstrate the ongoing efforts to evolve with the needs of industry. 

Adjustments include implementing a legally secure transfer of uncertified securities by means of entries in decentralised registers, providing unambiguous rules regarding the segregation of crypto-based assets from a bankrupt estate, and introducing a new financial markets infrastructure authorisation category for both retail and regulated participants.

. With these targets, Switzerland makes a very effective leap forward compared to other jurisdictions in terms of crypto business conditions,  without upending a generally harmonious legislative framework which has been perfected over time.

The report also takes a firm stance on key risks such as anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CFT) and blockchain-specific operational risks while giving expression to Swiss commitment to lead and align to the international (FATF) effort and highlight the key AML-CFT challenges. 

On the operational risk score, the report emphasises the dependence of data availability and integrity on security standards at each node on the blockchain, data management and protection issues, as well as the link between effective governance of DLT systems and the quality of encryption technology which is dynamic and human-dependent.

Mattia Rattaggi is chairperson of the regulatory and policy working group of the Crypto Valley Association. 

PERSONAL FINANCE 

Source link http://bit.ly/2tlwlXj

[mccartneynathxzw83]

Swiss on a roll to regulate crypto, blockchain space

Swiss on a roll to regulate crypto, blockchain space

Representations of the Ripple, Bitcoin, Etherum and Litecoin virtual currencies are seen on a motherboard in this illustration picture. Photo: Reuters.

The health and sustainability of the crypto and blockchain space can be measured by the jobs market, as well as the development of education offerings to ensure projects and start-ups have a diverse pool of blockchain talent to build their teams.

While these endeavours have enhanced credibility, the real showcase of blockchain’s future viability is reflected in the wave of momentum on the regulatory front over the past year, with governments across the world making inroads in defining their respective approaches to regulation. 

Developing regulation for a  sustainable ecosystem takes time, and involves striking the right balance between clear rules and flexible implementation. 

The Swiss jurisdiction is reaping the benefits of years of methodical work in crafting regulation that nurtures innovation while ensuring the highest standards in security and transparency. 

Switzerland’s willingness to evolve with the needs of industry was underlined in December last year, when the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF) report detailed the country’s regulatory framework regarding cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. 

The Federal Council’s report, Legal framework for DLT and blockchain in Switzerland, stated the opinion and intention of the executive body of the Swiss government. 

The content of the report also reaffirmed the primacy of the Swiss jurisdiction when it comes to promoting a sustainable crypto and blockchain economy.

That is not to say that significant progress hasn’t been made elsewhere.

  It has. 

Assessing the global landscape, it is clear that regulation is becoming a top priority for governments, with many facilitating collaborations with key industry leaders in their jurisdictions to ensure any framework is at least in part informed by the needs of industry 

We are seeing a marked decrease in the outright banning of crypto and a sustained awareness of the risks involved. 

The landscape remains diverse among the countries, in terms of regulatory depth and timing.

It is encouraging to see regional bodies beginning to take decisive action to put legislation into effect. In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) identified cryptocurrencies as a main focus this year for the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE). 

Stateside innovation around blockchain technology looks to be taking shape, and this month, New York state announced the creation of a crypto task force with the goal of submitting legislative proposals by December next year. The task force will focus on cryptocurrencies, other forms of digital currency, and the underlying blockchain technology. 

Regulatory advances in the Asia-Pacific region have seen Singapore and Japan emerge  at the head of the pack, while South Korea is reconsidering its earlier position. 

In July last year, the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) launched the Financial Innovation Bureau, a division dedicated to develop policy initiatives around financial innovation, with a sharp focus on cryptocurrencies. 

Last month, the country’s National Assembly passed legislation geared towards laying the legal foundation to introduce a regulatory sandbox for innovative financial services.

 The Financial Innovation Support Act will come into force in March, and will enable fintech firms to test their new services with regulatory exemptions for a certain period of time.

These developments should be celebrated by the global blockchain and crypto community. Together, we are accelerating the research and implementation of distributed ledger technology. 

However, there is a reason Switzerland has hosted 15 percent of the world’s top 100 ICOs, and recent efforts represent significant steps towards consolidating its position as the premier crypto nation. 

In December 2018, along with the report on DLT regulation, the Swiss Federal Council, with FINMA, implemented a Fintech licence, aiming to create an adequate, technology-neutral regulatory framework for any business that needs to accept deposits from the public without engaging in typical commercial banking activities.

The council report articulates Switzerland’s unique approach to regulation, distinguishing itself from competitive jurisdictions such as Malta and Lichtenstein. Switzerland does not foresee the need to create a new law dedicated to blockchain, but intends to “surgically” adjust the existing legal framework as much as necessary to support the development of the Swiss blockchain ecosystem. 

Thus, Switzerland considers the blockchain and crypto ecosystem an integral part of the broader development of its economy and not as a special sector in need of a dedicated legislative attention.

The targeted adjustments to the current laws envisaged by the council are quite pointed, and demonstrate the ongoing efforts to evolve with the needs of industry. 

Adjustments include implementing a legally secure transfer of uncertified securities by means of entries in decentralised registers, providing unambiguous rules regarding the segregation of crypto-based assets from a bankrupt estate, and introducing a new financial markets infrastructure authorisation category for both retail and regulated participants.

. With these targets, Switzerland makes a very effective leap forward compared to other jurisdictions in terms of crypto business conditions,  without upending a generally harmonious legislative framework which has been perfected over time.

The report also takes a firm stance on key risks such as anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CFT) and blockchain-specific operational risks while giving expression to Swiss commitment to lead and align to the international (FATF) effort and highlight the key AML-CFT challenges. 

On the operational risk score, the report emphasises the dependence of data availability and integrity on security standards at each node on the blockchain, data management and protection issues, as well as the link between effective governance of DLT systems and the quality of encryption technology which is dynamic and human-dependent.

Mattia Rattaggi is chairperson of the regulatory and policy working group of the Crypto Valley Association. 

PERSONAL FINANCE 

Source link http://bit.ly/2tlwlXj