Kofi Annan

Lore & Background

Kofi Annan was born in Fante New Town, Kumasi, Gold Coast (Ghana) on 8 April 1938, the twin of Efua Atta. He attended Mfantsipim school, studied economics at Kumasi College of Science and Technology, and completed undergraduate studies at Macalester College in the US. He earned a DEA in International Relations in Geneva and a master's in management from MIT Sloan. Annan joined the UN in 1962 as a budget officer for the World Health Organization. He held various posts, including under-secretary-general for peacekeeping from March 1992 to December 1996. He was appointed secretary-general on 13 December 1996 and confirmed by the General Assembly, serving from 1997 to 2006. He was re-elected in 2001 and succeeded by Ban Ki-moon in 2007.

Reader's Guide

As secretary-general, Annan reformed the UN bureaucracy, worked to combat HIV/AIDS especially in Africa, and launched the UN Global Compact. He faced criticism for not expanding the Security Council and for the Oil-for-Food Programme investigation, but was largely exonerated of personal corruption. After his term, he founded the Kofi Annan Foundation in 2007 and chaired The Elders. In 2012 he served as UN–Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria, quitting due to frustration with lack of progress. In 2016 he led a UN commission on the Rohingya crisis. Annan was criticized for his role during the Rwandan genocide, acknowledging he could have done more. He died in 2018 and received a state funeral.

Did You Know?

• Annan was the first UN secretary-general elected from the UN staff itself.
• He and the UN were co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.
• Annan's surname in Asante means 'fourth-born child' and rhymes with 'cannon'.
• He quit as UN–Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria in 2012 due to frustration with lack of progress.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"You can do a lot with diplomacy, but with diplomacy backed up by force you can get a lot more done." — Kofi Annan "We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race." — Kofi Annan "He is very calm—very, very calm. Never raises his voice. Well-informed, contrary to the sense outside that he is ill-informed and isolated. And decisive." — Kofi Annan "Unless the Security Council is restored to its pre-eminent position as the sole source of legitimacy on the use of force, we are on a dangerous path to anarchy." — Kofi Annan