In his briefing to the UN Security Council on Tuesday April 24, Kofi Annan noted the important impact that the UN Observer Mission was having on the ground even though there had only been a few UN observers deployed thus far. (1) He reported that there had been a marked decrease in the level of violence since the April 12 cease fire in Syria. “Without comprehensive monitoring of the situation,” he said, “it is difficult to assess the level of violence, but the available reports suggest that, taken as a whole the level of violence has decreased across the period since 12 April….” (Kofi Annan Briefing, Para 7 )

He noted that the importance of having observers was not only to “see what is going on.” More significantly, he pointed out that “their presence has the potential to change the political dynamics.” (Kofi Annan Briefing, Para 21)

His goal is… weiter lesen

The Presidency of the General Assembly at the United Nations this year is held by the former Ambassador from Qatar, Nassir Abdulaziz al Nasser. On Thursday, April 5, the President (PGA) held an informal plenary meeting of the General Assembly. Often an informal meeting is called when the meeting will be closed to the press and the public. But in this situation, the spokesperson for the PGA sent journalists email inviting them to the meeting and informing them “Please be advised this will be an OPEN meeting on UNTV and webcast.” (Email to journalists from Nihal Saad, April 4)

The meeting was to hear a report via a live satellite link from Mr Kofi Annan, the UN Envoy for Syria, about the progress of his six point peace plan for Syria. The meeting was called to order and was webcast for journalists and the public.

After Mr. Annan’s live… weiter lesen

In line with the non-binding UN General Assembly resolution A/Res/66/253 approved at the UN on February 16, 2012, Ban Ki-moon has appointed Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General as the joint UN-Arab League envoy to Syria.(1)

Mr. Annan came to the UN on Wednesday, February 29, to begin the assumption of his role in the Syrian situation. Speaking to journalists at a press stakeout on Wednesday evening, Ban Ki-moon presented Mr. Annan to the media. As this was the first chance for UN journalists and the public to hear from Mr. Annan about the role he envisions playing in the Syrian conflict, it was disappointing that the Spokesman for the Secretary General only allowed 3 questions from journalists at this press encounter.

Clearly Mr. Annan is no stranger to the UN Charter as he served for 10 years as UN Secretary General. Yet his new appointment represents a significant dilemma… weiter lesen