UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and actress Dame Judi Dench are both to be honoured by Oxford University.

Congregation, the University's parliament, approved plans to award Mr Annan a Doctor of Civil Law degree. The degree is expected to be conferred in 2001.

Dame Judi, who is a patron of the Oxford Playhouse, will receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree at this summer's Encaenia parade on Wednesday, June 28. A University spokesman said she was expected to attend the prestigious event. An Oxford University spokesman said Mr Annan was honoured for "his ability to undertake difficult tasks with great diplomatic skill and distinction, as well as personal qualities and his untiring work for international peace".

He is the third Secretary-General of the UN to receive an honorary degree from Oxford, following in the footsteps of Dag Hammarskjold in 1961 and Perez de Cuellar in 1993.