SECRETARY-GENERAL HAILS EXCELLENT WORKING RELATIONS, FRIENDSHIP TIES

BETWEEN FRANCE, UNITED NATIONS IN TOAST AT ‘FRANCOPHONIE’ DINNER

(Translated from the original French.)

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s toast at a dinner hosted by the organization for “La Francophonie” on 21 September:

Honourable Minister, allow me, first of all, to thank you for your kind words.  Historically, and as a matter of principle, France has been a very staunch and faithful ally of the United Nations.  But what has enabled us, the international community, to make progress together on some of the thorniest issues of global concern are the excellent working relationships and bonds of friendship forged with the leaders of France.  I have in mind the key role that France continues to play in resolving the crisis in Lebanon and its role in other French-speaking countries, particularly in Africa.

Let me also thank you, Honourable Minister, for your kind invitation.  Nane and I are very pleased to be here this evening and very deeply touched by your gesture, as this is our last Francophone dinner, at least with me as United Nations Secretary-General.

Failure to honour the tradition would be remiss of me.  Year in, year out, you have patiently witnessed my efforts to improve my French and the time of reckoning is at hand.  Ten years is time enough to assess the progress made and the challenges that lie ahead.  I am, of course, relying on you to identify not only the priorities, but also the resources that need to be mobilized in pursuit of our common goal, to wit, my perfect command of French -- a goal I am loath to give up.

As you have just seen, I have a very good command of “UNese”.  But, at the UN, French is manhandled rather than handled with kid gloves.  I still have a long way to go, Honourable Minister, before I can hold my own against you or the other distinguished speakers at this gathering, conjugation being the hardest nut for me to crack.

I do know how to combine tact with firmness and reflection with action.  I do advocate sometimes for the conjugation of our efforts.  But, when faced with verbs, the combined effect of negative influences, I am all at sea.  Yet, I eschew circumlocutions, though they are the hallowed devices of diplomacy.  Nor do I wander down the passive path, which ill befits the man of action that I am, but more importantly, because one cannot run afoul of the past participle.

So you will have to absolve me of any blame for any mangling, as I may yet do to your beautiful tongue, so long as I may one day to my grandchildren say that yours was the most difficult language I had ever known and thought impossible to learn.  Though an almighty effort I did make, I well nigh renounced any attempt its elusive tenses and conjugations to reign in.  Fortunately, I contrived to surround myself with experts who helped me my inhibitions to vanquish.  For, without them, I surely would have failed.

Together, we can overcome any problem.  Together, we can face the future with confidence.  Secure in that belief, I invite you to raise your glasses and drink to the French language, which has built many a bridge among peoples.

Long live France, long live la Francophonie, long live the United Nations.

And now, my friends, as Vaugelas would have put it, I must be going…

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For information media • not an official record