Post by account_disabled on Mar 13, 2024 1:27:33 GMT -8
Former UN Secretary General and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kofi Annan has died at the age of 80. In his 10 years at the head of the United Nations he became a star of world diplomacy.
“It is with immense sadness that the Annan family and the Kofi Annan Foundation announce that KofiAnnan, former Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize winner, passed away peacefully on Saturday, August 18, after a short illness,” the foundation announced in a statement. communicated in Geneva.
Annan, a Ghanaian national, who lived in Switzerland, was the seventh Secretary General of the UN, serving from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2006.
“His wife Nane and his children Ama, Kojo and Nina were with him in his last days,” adds the statement from his Foundation.
According to the Swiss AQB Directory news agency ATS, Annan died in a hospital in the German part of Switzerland.
Shortly after Annan's death was announced, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed his sadness at the death of his predecessor at the head of the United Nations, calling him a “guiding force for good.”
Ghana, his native country, declared a week of national mourning starting Monday.
Annan was the first UN Secretary General from sub-Saharan Africa.
The Ghanaian led the UN during the difficult period of the war in Iraq, but his record was overshadowed by accusations of corruption in the “oil versus food” case.
But upon leaving office, Annan was one of the UN's most popular leaders. Together with the organization, Annan received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for his “efforts towards a better organized and more peaceful world.”
“I have tried to place the human being at the center of everything we undertake: from conflict prevention to development, including human rights,” he said when accepting the award in Oslo.
The darkest years
Except for a few years as director of tourism in Ghana, Annan dedicated 40 years of his professional life to the United Nations. He was the first general secretary to come from the same organization.
He first directed the UN's human resources, then the budgets, before directing peacekeeping from 1993 onwards and being promoted four years later to the direction of the organization.
“It is with immense sadness that the Annan family and the Kofi Annan Foundation announce that KofiAnnan, former Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize winner, passed away peacefully on Saturday, August 18, after a short illness,” the foundation announced in a statement. communicated in Geneva.
Annan, a Ghanaian national, who lived in Switzerland, was the seventh Secretary General of the UN, serving from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2006.
“His wife Nane and his children Ama, Kojo and Nina were with him in his last days,” adds the statement from his Foundation.
According to the Swiss AQB Directory news agency ATS, Annan died in a hospital in the German part of Switzerland.
Shortly after Annan's death was announced, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed his sadness at the death of his predecessor at the head of the United Nations, calling him a “guiding force for good.”
Ghana, his native country, declared a week of national mourning starting Monday.
Annan was the first UN Secretary General from sub-Saharan Africa.
The Ghanaian led the UN during the difficult period of the war in Iraq, but his record was overshadowed by accusations of corruption in the “oil versus food” case.
But upon leaving office, Annan was one of the UN's most popular leaders. Together with the organization, Annan received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for his “efforts towards a better organized and more peaceful world.”
“I have tried to place the human being at the center of everything we undertake: from conflict prevention to development, including human rights,” he said when accepting the award in Oslo.
The darkest years
Except for a few years as director of tourism in Ghana, Annan dedicated 40 years of his professional life to the United Nations. He was the first general secretary to come from the same organization.
He first directed the UN's human resources, then the budgets, before directing peacekeeping from 1993 onwards and being promoted four years later to the direction of the organization.