ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN GHANA, 19 AUGUST

On 19 August 2005, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan received the 2005 Award for Global Excellence at a ceremony in Accra, Ghana.  The award is bestowed on a citizen of Ghana who has distinguished himself in the international arena, especially in championing the cause of world peace, and the eradication of poverty and diseases worldwide.  Every five years Millennium Excellence Awards are organized to acknowledge and celebrate excellence in Ghanaian society.  The Awards were established in 1999.

The Secretary-General said after receiving the Award, “It’s indeed a special honour for me to have been chosen for this prestigious award here in my own country.”

He added, “I do want to mention all my colleagues of the United Nations who support and further the cause of the Organization.  I think through me you honour them and their work too.”

The Secretary-General also paid tribute to the staff, as he accepted the Award for Global Excellence.  He noted that the ceremony took place two years to the day after the UN Headquarters in Baghdad had been destroyed in a bomb attack.

“We lost some of our best colleagues and personally some of my best friends, people who have worked with me for over 25 years”, he said.  “We should all be thankful that so many people are prepared to take great risks for the cause of peace.”