UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Wednesday that he took responsibility for the failing revealed both in the implementation of the oil-for-food program and said the world body would learn hard lessons from the investigation.

Annan said he accepted then, and still accept, the conclusion that he was not diligent or effective enough in pursuing an investigation when he learned the company which employed his son had won the humanitarian inspection contract.

He said that the sole purpose of initiating independent investigation into the scandal is to uncover the truth. "I was convinced that only by revealing the full truth, however painful, could the United Nations regain its credibility, and establish what changes were needed."

The UN chief noted that the truth as revealed in the successive interim reports of the inquiry and in the full report released today is painful for everyone in the United Nations, but he said the world organization should be grateful to Volcker and his colleagues for the work they have done.

"I have no doubt at all that this Organization will benefit from it," he said.

Annan noted that the Committee concluded he did not influence or try to influence the bid process of the procurement process. "I am glad to note that this conclusion is reaffirmed," he said.

Annan said he was glad to see the two essential points made in the report. The first point is that the UN oil-for-food program did succeed in restoring and maintaining minimal standards of nutrition and health in Iraq while helping to maintain international effort to prevent Saddam Hussein from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

The other is the fact that "the wholesale corruption within the program took place among private companies, manipulated by Saddam Hussein's government."

The UN chief said there are hard lessons for all to learn. These are lessons about the importance of accountability and particularly of having clear lines of responsibility and reporting. They are lessons about oversight, particularly about the need for mechanisms to ensure that someone takes prompt action to repair the deficiencies once they are revealed, he said.

Above all, they are lessons about the need for the United Nations to maintain the highest possible standards of integrity, and of effective performance, Annan said.

Annan rules out possibility of resigning

Annan said on Wednesday he will not resign even if he was accused of management lapses in oil-for-food program.

"I don't anticipate anyone to resign. We are carrying on with our work," Annan told reporters following the presentation of an investigative report to the Security Council by former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, the leader of the UN Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC).

Annan noted that as the UN Chief Administrative Officer he did take responsibility for the weaknesses in the administration.

"I have accepted responsibility for those aspects of the program and the administration under my authority," he said. "But certain responsibility centers and decisions centers were so dispersed."

"As an institution, we did fail and we have lessons to learn," he admitted. "We need to take steps to strengthen our management, our decision-making processes, our oversight."

"We need to ensure that the lessons are learned and we move ahead and strengthen the Organization to be able to play the role that is so essential to it to play," he stressed.

The latest comprehensive report issued by the IIC on Wednesday concluded that Annan should take responsibility for serious management lapse. However, it also said the UN chief was not engaged in any conflicts of interest in the oil-for-food program.

Source: Xinhua