By Bernadette H. Carreon
Horizon news staff

Outgoing Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed gratitude to the support Palau has given him during his tenure.
"As I prepare to finish my term as Secretary General, I take this opportunity to thank you for supporting me in my work. I am deeply grateful that I have been able to count on your wisdom and cooperation during this eventful decade," Annan said in his letter to President Remengesau.
Annan said that that during his term, the UN though faced many challenges has also gained important gains.
"We have made important gains. Advanced on aid and debt relief are helping to make the world economy less unjust. The international community is finally scaling up its response to the HIV/Aids epidemic. There are fewer interstate conflicts in the world today, and many civil wars have ended," Annan said .
The Secretary General at the same time endorsed the incoming Sec. Gen. Ban Ki-moon.
Moon in a separate letter to the president said that as a new UN Sec. Gen. his duty will be to the Organization, its charter and its 192 members.
"Each brings something special to our common endeavor. Each must be heard. Ultimately, we are all member states and Secretariat alike, accountable to "we the peoples," together, we can and must do better. Our peoples and our future depends on it," Moon said.