Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - December 18, 2003
"Yes Iraq is important, but the world is much bigger than Iraq," Annan said.
"All of us -- leaders, politicians, diplomats and journalists -- have been very focused on Iraq this year. We simply haven't paid enough attention to the many other pressing challenges facing us," he told a year-end news conference.
Every day, billions of people must deal with poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy, and if these problems are not addressed, "we will all be poorer and less secure," he said.
He said struggling Afghanistan, war-torn Africa and a Middle East mired in violence were in dire need of greater global attention as well as particular problems like AIDS.
While nuclear, biological and chemical weapons are a grave threat, the AIDS epidemic is also "a real weapon of mass destruction," he said. "This is an epidemic that is killing 8,000 people a day."
He called on governments to offer more development aid and debt relief, lower trade barriers that deprive poor nations of a marketplace, and funnel more money to education, health care, clean water and the global fight against AIDS.
"We've made promises in all these areas, and in many others too," Annan said. "In 2004 I'll be doing all that I can to get world leaders to work harder to meet the promises that have been made."
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