Mr. Speaker, December 31 will be the end of Kofi Annan's term of office as the seventh Secretary General of the United Nations. For ten years fraught with conflict in Africa, including in Darfur, and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, he undertook the reforms needed to ensure the UN's credibility.
He is the first Secretary General to come out of the organization. He started there in 1962 as an administrative and budget officer. He then moved up the ladder to the post of Secretary General.
In his farewell speech yesterday, Mr. Annan issued a strong warning to the Americans regarding their attitude in the war in Iraq, reminding them, among other things, that major powers intervening in a conflict must do so in a multilateral context.
The Bloc Québécois congratulates Kofi Annan on his contribution to peace in the world.