1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,360 2006, it was a year of war in Lebanon, ongoing violence in Iraq, and continuing crisis in 2 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:17,320 Darfur. 3 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:25,840 In these turbulent times, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed once more to the conscience 4 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:26,840 of the world. 5 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:34,280 What matters is that the strong as well as the weak agree to be bound by the same rules 6 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:38,280 to treat each other with the same respect. 7 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:46,680 What matters is that all peoples accept the need to listen, to compromise, to take each 8 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,920 other's views into account. 9 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:55,640 In the summer, tensions between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon burst into flames. 10 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:59,920 The world appealed to the warring parties to protect innocent lives and to stop the 11 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:05,080 targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure. 12 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:12,160 Among the victims, four unarmed UN observers killed by an Israeli missile. 13 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:18,680 While the Security Council struggled to find consensus on a ceasefire resolution, the UN 14 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:23,160 brought relief to the people trapped in southern Lebanon. 15 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:30,160 War is not, and I repeat, war is not the continuation of politics by other means. 16 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:38,160 On the contrary, it represents a catastrophic failure of political skill and imagination. 17 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:44,800 Finally, 45 countries pledged to send soldiers for a robust peacekeeping force that would 18 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:50,560 observe Israeli withdrawal and assist the Lebanese armed forces to create an arms-free 19 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,640 zone in southern Lebanon. 20 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:58,400 Lebanon's infrastructure had been torn to shreds, and returning refugees had to restart 21 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:00,040 their lives. 22 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:05,960 UNICEF organized a vaccination campaign for 180,000 children and established a lifeline 23 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,240 for water. 24 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,160 Bakeries were repaired by the World Food Programme. 25 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:17,840 A sense of normalcy returned when schools opened for the first time after the ceasefire, 26 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,480 but children are still at risk. 27 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:27,400 More than 100,000 cluster bombs and unexploded ordnance litter towns and fields in south 28 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:28,400 Lebanon. 29 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:35,320 Twelve-year-old Sikina is one of the victims. 30 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,640 I felt pain in my stomach. 31 00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:44,320 There was smoke everywhere and blood pouring from me. 32 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:51,120 Experts are now defusing the cluster bombs, but the fragile situation in Lebanon was further 33 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:57,560 destabilized when industry minister Pierre Gemayel was killed in November. 34 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:04,280 The Security Council agreed to provide technical help to investigate the murder. 35 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,480 There was also ongoing fighting in Gaza. 36 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:13,280 The Security Council called on Israel to seize its military action and on Palestinian militants 37 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:18,760 to stop rocket attacks. 38 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:26,520 With new waves of violence in Iraq, the number of civilians killed rose month after month. 39 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:32,640 With nearly 100,000 people fleeing every month, the UN held a high-level meeting on Iraq in 40 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:33,840 September. 41 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:41,080 There is a grave danger that the Iraqi state will break down, possibly in the midst of 42 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:43,760 a full-scale civil war. 43 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:48,440 2006 brought back old fears of nuclear bombs. 44 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:54,520 When Iran announced plans to enrich uranium, suspicion grew about the nature of its nuclear 45 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:56,080 program. 46 00:03:56,080 --> 00:04:02,880 Kofi Annan, on a visit to Tehran, urged the government to negotiate. 47 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:10,440 Weeks later, another shockwave, North Korea's first nuclear test, threatened to unravel 48 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:16,400 the nonproliferation treaty that had contained the spread of nuclear bombs for nearly 40 49 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:17,680 years. 50 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:23,360 When the Security Council voted on a range of sanctions, the North Korean delegation 51 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:28,360 left under protest. 52 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:32,800 U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton. 53 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:40,480 It is the second time in three months that the representative of the DPRK has rejected 54 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:45,720 a unanimous resolution of the Security Council and walked out of this chamber. 55 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:51,360 It is the contemporary equivalent of Nikita Khrushchev pounding his shoe on the desk of 56 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,640 the General Assembly. 57 00:04:53,640 --> 00:05:00,840 In Darfur, an estimated 200,000 people have been slaughtered in the conflict between government 58 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:07,360 forces, allied militia, and rebels seeking greater autonomy. 59 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:13,600 More than two million people have left their homes, and deadly attacks against civilians 60 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:16,080 are reported every day. 61 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:21,280 Under the most desperate circumstances, new babies are born in the camps. 62 00:05:21,280 --> 00:05:28,280 Some, the lucky ones, get medical care and supplies from the UN Population Fund. 63 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:35,920 Actor George Clooney came to the United Nations to draw attention to the victims. 64 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:40,920 But make no mistake, it is the first genocide of the 21st century, and if it continues unchecked, 65 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:42,840 it will not be the last. 66 00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:48,120 The conflict threatened to spill over into Chad, where remote villages were looted and 67 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,720 burned by armed men on horseback. 68 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:57,000 The African Union has agreed to extend its peacekeeping mandate in Darfur with logistical 69 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,800 support from the United Nations. 70 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:05,960 The international community urged all parties to accept a ceasefire and political talks 71 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:10,120 as necessary steps towards peace. 72 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:15,520 Across national borders, violence between religious groups and public outcry over controversial 73 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:22,520 cartoons led to a worldwide debate on how to prevent a clash of cultures and religions. 74 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:30,000 In Istanbul, the UN's high-level team on the Alliance of Civilizations presented its final 75 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:37,040 report, recommending education, media campaigns, and better opportunities for young people 76 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,840 to build bridges and promote a culture of respect. 77 00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:46,400 Human beings have the capacity for great evil, but they've also got the capacity for great 78 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:53,400 good, and that ultimately nothing is beyond resolution. 79 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:03,040 UN peacekeeping deployment reached a historic high in October, with over 80,000 soldiers 80 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:10,040 and police and 15,000 civilians serving in 18 different missions. 81 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:17,280 In Congo, the UN assisted in the first countrywide elections, a milestone in the peace process. 82 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:25,440 Ballots were distributed to the most remote areas, and votes were often counted by candlelight. 83 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:30,220 After the announcement of the final results, demonstrators opened fire and turned police 84 00:07:30,220 --> 00:07:36,520 trucks over. UN peacekeepers had to intervene to restore order. 85 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:43,400 In post-conflict Liberia, each week hundreds of refugees return home, but the country still 86 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:50,400 has an 85 percent unemployment rate. UN peacekeepers and former fighters are rebuilding the war-ravaged 87 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:57,680 infrastructure. Their first major project, the Kofi Annan Peace Bridge. 88 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:02,080 Liberia's president is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. 89 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:09,120 I stand here in testimony to the rebirth of my country. We have learned that no matter 90 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:16,160 how protracted the conflict, the parties must sit around the table to iron out their differences 91 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:22,320 and to make peace. At the criminal tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, 92 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:29,320 43 generals and politicians are on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity. 93 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:36,760 But trying all 800,000 suspects in the murders would take a century. 94 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:43,880 So Rwanda started the largest justice experiment in history, a village-based court system. 95 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:50,920 The UN development program trained a quarter of a million village judges. Convicts pay 96 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:56,280 for their crimes with community work, like building much-needed houses for war widows 97 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:02,680 and orphans. Off the shore of Italy, another ship of migrants 98 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:09,480 washed ashore. In a rapidly globalizing world, 200 million people are on the move looking 99 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:15,760 for opportunity. Some risk their lives in unknown waters or struggle to cross borders 100 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:21,320 illegally and fall prey to exploitation and abuse. 101 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:27,200 A summit meeting in New York focused on the problems but also the benefits of migration, 102 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:34,200 noting that the money migrants send home exceeds all international aid combined. 103 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:41,840 2006 marked a sad anniversary, 25 years of HIV-AIDS. 104 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:49,960 The face of the epidemic is increasingly young, poor and female. Twice as many young women 105 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:56,960 are living with HIV than young men. Only one in five has access to antiretroviral 106 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:03,960 medication. Ghensani Mavassi, the first HIV-positive speaker, to address the General Assembly. 107 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:11,000 Because of scientific advantages of the past 25 years, I have hope that when time comes 108 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:17,060 for me to take treatment, it will be available. All the 14,000 more who will be infected by 109 00:10:17,060 --> 00:10:20,100 the end of today deserve this hope. 110 00:10:20,100 --> 00:10:25,820 There is new hope for millions of people who cannot afford the drugs they need. Forty countries 111 00:10:25,820 --> 00:10:31,900 established an investment fund to purchase quality drugs and diagnostics to combat AIDS, 112 00:10:31,900 --> 00:10:38,900 tuberculosis and malaria. Floods in eastern Africa, droughts in many other parts of the 113 00:10:39,020 --> 00:10:46,020 globe, snow disappearing on Kilimanjaro and Arctic icebergs melting faster than ever before 114 00:10:46,900 --> 00:10:51,780 reminded the world that climate change is real. 115 00:10:51,780 --> 00:10:58,340 A United Nations conference in Nairobi criticized a frightening lack of leadership in confronting 116 00:10:58,340 --> 00:11:00,860 the biggest global threat. 117 00:11:00,860 --> 00:11:07,860 And I would want leaders around the world to really show courage and to know that if 118 00:11:08,540 --> 00:11:15,460 they do, their people and the population and the voters will be with them. 119 00:11:15,500 --> 00:11:22,500 More than a billion people still have no access to clean drinking water. Nuriyo in Somalia 120 00:11:23,940 --> 00:11:28,940 is one of millions of women who struggle every day to find water. 121 00:11:28,940 --> 00:11:35,940 For a few in Mozambique, UNICEF has installed pumps driven entirely by children's playful 122 00:11:38,300 --> 00:11:42,300 energy. 123 00:11:42,340 --> 00:11:49,340 In 2006, the world's official development aid broke the $100 billion barrier. But global 124 00:11:51,340 --> 00:11:55,620 arms spending is still ten times higher. 125 00:11:55,620 --> 00:12:00,460 Prospects are mixed to reach the millennium development goals of eliminating extreme poverty 126 00:12:00,460 --> 00:12:06,220 and hunger by 2015. But around the world, citizens are urging their governments to keep 127 00:12:06,260 --> 00:12:07,580 on trying. 128 00:12:07,580 --> 00:12:13,820 More than 23 million people stood up against poverty in 80 countries. It was the largest 129 00:12:13,820 --> 00:12:18,020 coordinated movement in the Guinness Book of Records. 130 00:12:18,020 --> 00:12:23,900 And people also turned out in hundreds of thousands to march against hunger. 131 00:12:23,900 --> 00:12:29,780 With so much on its agenda, the United Nations is at the threshold of a new era. 132 00:12:30,500 --> 00:12:36,780 After ten years at the organization's helm, Kofi Annan leaves office. 133 00:12:36,780 --> 00:12:43,780 Yes, I shall miss what is, when all is said and done, the world's most exultant joy. 134 00:12:45,660 --> 00:12:52,660 I yield my place to others with an obstinate feeling, a real obstinate feeling of hope 135 00:12:53,740 --> 00:12:56,260 for our common future. 136 00:12:56,260 --> 00:13:02,580 Thank you very much. 137 00:13:02,580 --> 00:13:09,580 In October, the General Assembly elected Ban Ki-moon, Foreign Minister of South Korea, 138 00:13:10,140 --> 00:13:14,260 to be the next Secretary General. 139 00:13:14,260 --> 00:13:21,260 The UN is needed now more than ever before. And the world's people will not be fully served 140 00:13:22,260 --> 00:13:29,260 unless peace, development, and human rights, the three pillars of the United Nations, are 141 00:13:30,260 --> 00:13:35,260 advanced together with equal vigor. 142 00:13:35,260 --> 00:13:42,260 I, Ban Ki-moon, solemnly swear as Secretary General of the United Nations...