Boutros Boutros Ghali, former UN Secretary General, is born

Boutros Boutros Ghali was born in Egypt on 14 November 1922 into a prominent Coptic Christian family. He studied International Law and International Relations, and was appointed as a Professor in both these fields at the University of Cairo. With an impressive academic career as his basis, Ghali started his political career as a member of the Arab Socialist Union in 1974. He then worked as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs before moving to the United Nations (UN). Ghali's role as UN Secretary General has been marked with controversy. During his term of office, the 1994 Rwandan Genocide broke out, in which almost a million Tutsi's and moderate Hutu's were murdered. Four years prior to this, Ghali had secretly approved an arms sale to the government of Rwanda, in which arms were purchased for the purpose of carrying out the genocide. Despite his Agenda for Peace, in which he explained how the UN could intervene in violent conflict, he took little action in the case of Rwanda. Ghali was also unable to muster support for UN intervention in the Angolan Civil War and became the face of the UN's inaction during humanitarian crises. In 1996, Boutros-Boutros Ghali was nominated for a second term in office. The United States vetoed his nomination on the basis of his performance in the Bosnian Genocide, which also occurred during his term of office. He was succeeded by Kofi Annan in 1997. Ghali held a number of prominent positions following his term in the UN. These include his role as the Secretary General of La Francophonie, an orgnaisation for French-speaking countries, and the Director of the Egyptian Council for Human Rights, a post which he currently holds.