Dec 28 (Reuters) - Following are some notable quotes from Kofi Annan, who leaves office on Sunday after a decade as secretary-general of the United Nations: "We will not enjoy development without security; we will not enjoy security without development, and we will not enjoy either without respect for human rights." -- "In Larger Freedom" report, March 20, 2005. ---- AFGHANISTAN: "Today, in Afghanistan, a girl will be born. Her mother will hold her and feed her, comfort her and care for her just as any mother would anywhere in the world. ... But to be born a girl in today's Afghanistan is to begin life centuries away from the prosperity that one small part of humanity has achieved. ... Truly, it is as if it were a tale of two planets. -- Nobel Lecture, Oslo, Dec. 10, 2001. --- SOVEREIGNTY: "If states bent on criminal behavior know that frontiers are not the absolute defense; if they know that the (U.N.) Security Council will take action to halt crimes against humanity, then they will not embark on such a course of action in expectation of sovereign impunity." -- U.N. General Assembly, Sept. 20, 1999. "The sovereignty of states must no longer be used as a shield for gross violations of human rights." -- Nobel Lecture, Oslo, Dec. 10, 2001. ----. MIDDLE EAST: "The United Nations and the Middle East are closely intertwined. The region has shaped this organization like no other. The situation, the people, the thirst for peace, are all very close to my heart. I know they are close to yours as well. As a matter of urgency, let us match that concern with concerted action." -- Security Council, Dec. 12, 2005. ---- PALESTINIANS: "Some may feel satisfaction at repeatedly passing General Assembly resolutions or holding conferences that condemn Israel's behavior. Has any of this had an effect on Israel's policies, other than to strengthen the belief in Israel, and among many of its supporters, that this great organization is too one-sided to be allowed a significant role in the Middle East peace process?" -- Security Council, Dec. 12, 2006. ------ AFRICA: "Many of Africa's people felt they were unjustly condemned to be exploited and oppressed, generation after generation, since colonial rule had been replaced by an inequitable economic order on the global level, and sometimes by corrupt rulers and warlords at the local level." -- General Assembly farewell speech, Sept. 19, 2006. ----- DARFUR: To judge by what is happening in Darfur, our performance has not improved much since the disasters of Bosnia and Rwanda. Sixty years after the liberation of the Nazi death camps, and 30 years after the Cambodian killing fields, the promise of 'never again' is ringing hollow." -- Human Rights Watch speech, New York, Dec. 8, 2006. --- UNITED STATES: "More than ever today, Americans, like the rest of humanity, need a functioning global system through which the world's peoples can face global challenges together. And in order to function, the system still cries out for far-sighted American leadership, in the Truman tradition. I hope and pray that the American leaders of today, and tomorrow, will provide it." Truman Library Speech, Independence, Missouri, Dec. 11, 2006. ---- FAREWELL: "Together we have pushed some big rocks to the top of the mountain, even if others have slipped from our grasp and rolled back. But this mountain, with its bracing rocks, winds and global views, is the best place on earth to be. ... And while I look forward to resting my shoulder from those stubborn rocks in the next phase of my life, I know I shall miss the mountain." -- General Assembly, Sept. 19, 2006.
