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Comment The College newsletter
Issue no 182 | July 2008
Africa at the crossroads World statesman, Kofi Annan, delivers the 2008 Commemoration Oration tempest
Kofi A Annan, the seventh
Secretary-General of the United Nations, delivered the 2008 Commemoration Oration in May, held in the Great Hall, Strand Campus.
‘The best Secretary General in the history of the UN’ Chairman of Council, The Marquess of Douro, welcomed Kofi Annan to the College, stating: ‘I am pleased and honoured to welcome Mr Kofi Annan who has been described by a former United States Ambassador to the United Nations as the best Secretary General in the history of the United Nations.’ Mr Annan spoke about Africa in the World Today to an audience of staff, students and invited guests. Commenting that King’s was a very appropriate place for him to discuss this topic because of its many links with the continent, Mr Annan reflected on the major achievements and continuing challenges for Africa. He noted that the continent was moving towards being the ‘next big thing’, having achieved impressive economic growth and major investment over the last few years. He also praised the ‘new
Kofi Annan became the recipient of the second honorary degree awarded by King’s on his visit to the College in May.
generation’ of African leaders, including the first female African leader, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia.
However, he highlighted that progress was not as fast or as consistent as could be hoped and that without continued investment
armed conflicts, poor leadership and broken promises will continue to tarnish the reputation of Africa. ‘Africa is at a crossroads’, he said. ‘It can continue to move forward or retreat, in the face of old and new challenges, letting the advances of recent years slip away.’ At the Commemoration Oration, Kofi Annan also became the recipient of the second honorary degree awarded by King’s College London. Before the presentation, the Principal Professor Trainor said: ‘Although Kofi Annan has received many honorary degrees, he is only the second person to receive an honorary doctorate of King’s College London since the College began to award its own degrees earlier this year. ‘The first recipient, in February this year, was Mrs Helen Suzman, and it is particularly appropriate, given the College’s links with Africa, that both recipients so far are people who have contributed in heroic ways to the development of that continent, with very considerable positive impact on the world more generally.’ The Commemoration Oration celebrates King’s as a place of learning. Now an annual celebration at King’s, the first ever Commemoration orator continued on page 2