People

Kofi A. Annan

Ghana

Biography

Kofi A. Annan was the 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations and the founder of the Kofi Annan Foundation. In 2001, he and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. He set up the Kofi Annan Foundation in 2007 to mobilize leaders of all sectors to provide leadership where it was needed. The Foundation works on the premise that there can be no long-term peace without development and no sustainable development without peace. Mr. Annan chaired the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security and in January 2013, launched the West Africa Commission on Drugs, as a response to the surge in drug trafficking and consumption in West Africa and their impact on security, governance and public health. In his last 2 years, under the helm of his Foundation, Kofi Annan launched projects to safeguard elections and democracy in the digital age, but also to promote youth leadership in the face of violent extremism, and to ensure that peace processes really produce lasting peace. Lastly, he advocated for agriculture that serves the poorest and emphatically warned against the dangers of climate change. He died in 2018 after a short illness.

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“You have the right to make your voices heard…not only can you participate, you can lead. As individuals, you have power.”

Kofi A. Annan