Kofi Annan Member Quotations

Time and again, when member states and the governments are faced with an insoluble problem, and they're under pressure to do something, that something usually ends up being referred to the U.N.

Simply put, what the United Nations wants is what the U.S. also wants: a reformed United Nations that is effective, efficient, leaner and relevant to the tasks that member states want to set for us, ... The world has changed and we have to change, we have to adapt and I have given my commitment to the president that I will pursue reforms.

Obviously we didn't get everything we wanted. With 191 member states, it's not easy to get an agreement,

Obviously we didn't get everything we wanted and with 191 member states it's not easy to get an agreement, ... All of us would have wanted more but we can work with what we have been given, and it's a step forward.

I have been gratified by the clear determination expressed by NATO and its member governments to prevent a further escalation of the fighting, and I encourage all steps that may deter the further use of ethnically driven repression and the resort to violence by either side in Kosovo,

When it comes to peacekeeping, the U.N. can be there and on time, well-equipped and ready to act, if those member states with capacity -- and which help take the decisions -- would also participate in these operations, ... Where the will is not there, and the resources are not made available, the U.N. peacekeepers will arrive late.

which are internationally accepted and which have the broad support of member states and civil society.

under the lead of a (U.N.) member state.

The good news is that we do have an outcome document. Obviously we didn't get everything we wanted, and with 191 member states it's not easy to get an agreement. All of us would have wanted more, but we can work with what we have been given, and I think it is an important step forward.

The good news is that we do have an outcome document, ... Obviously we didn't get everything we wanted, and with 191 member states it's not easy to get an agreement. All of us would have wanted more, but we can work with what we have been given, and I think it is an important step forward.

The budget agreed upon today will enable the organization to continue its work uninterrupted while member states pursue the reform proposals adopted during the 2005 world summit.

If member states are going to get a meaningful outcome, there will need to be more give and take.

The U.N. family must do its part, but today I also call yet again on member states to do all they can to ensure a secure environment for U.N. staff as they go about their work in the service of humankind,

And I'm not sure that the US is going to insist on that. I think they've made their point, but I'm not sure the other member states would want to see the millennium development goals dropped or, the worse, expunged from the document.

The findings in today's report must be deeply embarrassing to us all, ... The Inquiry Committee has ripped away the curtain, and shone a harsh light into the most unsightly corners of the organization. None of us - member states, Secretariat, agencies, funds and programs - can be proud of what it has found.