All you need to know about Kofi Annan
Current UN chief Antonio Guterres reflected a deep sense of sadness in his voice and categorized his predecessor as a “guiding force for good”.
Former United Nations Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan died Saturday following a short illness at the age of 80.
Kofi Annan was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006. He was also the founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation.
Annan was born in Kumasi and went on to study economics at Macalester college, international relations from the Graduate Institute Geneva and management at MIT. He joined the UN in 1962, working for the WHO's Geneva office. Annan was appointed as the Secretary-General on 13th December 1996 and was re-elected for a second term in 2001.
As a secretary general, he reformed the UN bureaucracy; worked to combat HIV and launched the UN Global Compact. But later on faced calls for resignation after an investigation into the oil for food programme. Thus after leaving UN, he founded the Kofi Anan foundation in 2007 to work on international development.
He was also the UN- Arab League joint special representative for Syria to help find a resolution to the ongoing conflict out there. Later on, Annan was also appointed to lead a UN Commission on the Rohingya issue.
"It is with immense sadness that the Annan family and the Kofi Anan Foundation announce that Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Laureate passes away on Saturday i.e. 18th August after a short illness," Kofi Annan's foundation announced.
"His wife Nane and their children were with him during his last breath," it said.
Current UN chief Antonio Guterres reflected a deep sense of sadness in his voice and categorized his predecessor as a "guiding force for good".<
It is with immense sadness that the Annan family and the Kofi Annan Foundation announce that Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Laureate, passed away peacefully on Saturday 18th August after a short illness... pic.twitter.com/42nGOxmcPZ
— Kofi Annan (@KofiAnnan) August 18, 2018
Kofi Annan was the first secretary-general from Sub-Sahara Africa. He projected quite a charisma during his tenure and is thus credited in raising the world body's profile. He was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.
Guterres in his statement said that "in many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations".
He rose through the ranks to lead the organization into the new millennium with matchless dignity and determination" Gutters said.
Theresa May also paid tribute to the great leader in a post on Twitter.
"Sad to hear of the death of Kofi Annan. A great leader and reformer of the UN, he made a huge contribution in making the world a better place than which he was born. My thoughts and condolences are with the family", she said.
The UN high commissioner for human rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said he was grief-stricken over Aman's death.
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