"Countries will only overcome the "three great challenges" of development, security and human rights if they take action together, globally and coordinated through the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday in a wide-ranging speech to world leaders gathered for the opening of the General Assembly's annual debate.

In his final address to the Assembly's general debate before he completes his term at the end of this year, Mr. Annan said the events of the past decade "have not resolved, but sharpened" the challenges of "an unjust world economy, world disorder, and widespread contempt for human rights and the rule of law."