Secretary general highly respected

Published on Friday 27 February 2004 00:00

KOFI Annan performs a political juggling act as the secretary general of the United Nations, balancing the interests of the richest and most powerful nations with the concerns of the developing world.

It is a fiendishly difficult task, but Mr Annan has proved he possesses the quality required.

During his five years in the job, he has shown he can speak passionately on behalf of Africa, but he has also won the respect of the powerful nations that can make or break UN initiatives.

Mr Annan has been described by a former United States ambassador to the UN as "the best secretary general in the history of the UN". The lavish praise stands in stark contrast to the thorny relationship Mr Annan’s predecessor, Boutros Boutros Ghali, had with the US.

Mr Annan’s first term as secretary general came under Bill Clinton’s US presidency, where he enjoyed warm relations with the White House. He has worked hard to foster equally good relations with George Bush, but that has been strained to near breaking point by the war in Iraq.

Under the administration of Mr Bush’s father, the UN lost much credibility. It appeared to become little more than a rubber-stamp for his government’s ambitions - some fear the same is happening under Mr Annan.He needs the confidence of the UN countries if he is to succeed in making things happen - Clare Short will have made that task all the more difficult.

However, he has shown, with his commitment to tackle the AIDS pandemic, that he can pull together a global consensus on an issue that is affecting millions. He has teased money out of the coffers of the world’s richest nations and has persuaded many countries, particularly in Africa, to recognise the grave threat that AIDS and HIV pose to their futures.

Many say that Mr Annan has shown in tackling this most difficult and sensitive of issues that he is a global expert in achieving "consensus diplomacy".