AIDS TB & Malaria Global Hero - Kofi Annan
When Kofi Annan was in his early twenties, he left his homeland, Ghana, to study in the U.S. This was his first trip outside of Africa, and his first winter. As a child of the tropics, he was unused to bundling up for the cold, and he thought it a nuisance. He found one item in particular very strange: ear muffs. "I was determined not to wear them," Annan recalls. "Only when I returned from a brisk winter walk with my ears frozen did I have to conclude that the natives probably knew what they were doing." Annan says that this experience taught him a useful lesson: "Never walk into an environment and assume that you understand it better than the people who live there."
Kofi Annan puts that lesson to good use in his job as Secretary General of the United Nations. As head of the U.N., it is Mr. Annan's job to do everything he can to promote international peace and security. He consults with world leaders on a regular basis, using his impartiality to prevent the escalation and spread of conflicts.
While the job of Secretary General requires that Mr. Annan attend to many issues at once, he has gone out of his way to address the health crises in AIDS, malaria and TB. In April 2001, Mr. Annan called for an international fund to fight these diseases, saying that since they are global in scope, so must be the effort to combat them. Today, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has already begun giving out grants to countries in need.
The main goal of The Fund is to raise the amount of money going towards fighting AIDS, malaria and TB. The Fund also oversees where this money goes-making sure that it gets to countries with effective plans for prevention and treatment. The Fund says that with a yearly operating budget of ten billion dollars, it can reduce AIDS, malaria and TB significantly.
It is up to countries, companies and individuals to give The Fund the money it needs. While all countries say they support fighting this effort, most have not given their fair share to The Fund. Though Canada has pledged 100 million, an independent study suggests that for The Fund will only meet its goal of $10 billion if the world's wealthiest 48 countries all need to contribute 0.035% of their GDP, which means that Canada should give 243 million.
Mr. Annan is the first African Secretary General of the U.N. He has worked for the organization since 1962. In 2001, he and the U.N. were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Support the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria. Click here to take action.
To read the speech Koffi Annan gave when he won the award, go to http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2001/sgsm8071.doc.htm
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