Kofi Annan, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, was appointed to
the position in 1996 by the General Assembly to serve a five-year term through 2001. A national of Ghana, he is fluent in English, French and several African languages. The first Secretary-General from the international civil service, he assumed office after more than three decades with the world Organization.

Mr. Annan has had a remarkably varied United Nations career, not only in manage- ment but also in refugee issues and peacekeeping. He has held positions as Under- Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Controller of Finance and Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management. He also carried out a number
of sensitive diplomatic assignments, including negotiating the repatriation of over 900 international staff and the release of Western hostages in Iraq in 1990; initiating the discussions on the "oil-for-food" formula to ease the humanitarian crisis in Iraq; and overseeing the transition from the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in former Yugoslavia to the multinational Implementation Force (IFOR)
in 1995.

Complementing this grounding in management and peacekeeping is Mr. Annan's strong commitment to economic development and social justice. As he said in an address to the General Assembly following his appointment, peace rests on economic and social stability, and "sustainable economic development is not merely a matter of projects and statistics. It is above all, a matter of people -- real people with basic needs: food, clothing, shelter and medical care."

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