U.N. leader to address reforms, responsibility

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to focus on his visions of reform for the U.N. and the international community in his commencement address on Monday to the graduating class of 2005.

It is unclear, however, if Annan will discuss the ongoing scandal over the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food program that has been ridden with allegations of corruption.

U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq anticipated that Annan will elaborate on his proposed plan for increasing the relevance of the United Nations. He added that Annan will also most likely talk about the need of multilateral politics, especially in light of the United States-United Nations rift over the Iraq War.

The plan, which equally stresses development, security and human rights across the globe, outlines Annan's goal for the final two years as the head of the organization.

Annan originally laid out this vision for reform in the In Larger Freedom report, which he presented to the U.N. General Assembly in March.

The Ghana native has been Secretary-General of the U.N. since 1996. In 2001, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to both infuse new life into the organization and fight for human rights around the world.

College senior and Senior Class President Matt Klapper said that if Annan addresses his visions for reform, the speech will have real-world importance and will be interesting for students.

"I hope that he speaks candidly about the challenges that the United Nations faces, the necessity of reform to keep the organization truly relevant and, above all else, the tangible lessons of leadership that my classmates and I may apply in the future," Klapper said.

Recently, the U.N. and its leader have been the target of criticism for the Oil-for-Food program, which allowed Saddam Hussein to embezzle millions of dollars of oil revenues. Although the investigation conducted by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker cleared Annan of any wrongdoing, some on campus have expressed outrage about this year's speaker choice.

Haq said that he is unsure whether Annan will speak directly to the criticisms revolving around the Oil-for-Food scandal, but he did say that Annan is very aware of the public concerns.

"He does understand the concern of students and the public at large and he does try to be up front with dealing with them."

Those on campus who have been critical of the choice do not anticipate Annan discussing the critical issues. Penn College Republicans President Eric Rechtschaffen said that he thinks the United Nations is more interested in white-washing the controversy than finding the truth.

"I can't imagine[that] he will try to focus on an issue that will make him look even worse at such a public forum," Rechtschaffen said. "He will probably [only] reference it ... but will probably keep his comments very general."

However, Haq said it is likely that Annan will address the importance of U.S.-U.N. relations, which have suffered greatly since the decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

If Annan's previous commencement speeches are any indication, this year's should be a success.

His speech at Harvard last year addressed growing concerns over multilateralism, collective security and rule of law. According to Harvard's Director of College Alumni Programs, Hoopes Wampler, the speech drew a larger than usual crowd -- close to 25,000 people and was very well received.

The commencement proceedings are not restricted to the Penn community, and the speech will also be broadcast live over the Internet.

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