10 things you may not know about late UN Sec Gen Kofi Annan

The death of Former United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has been announced by his family and his foundation in a statement released today, Saturday.

Kofi, according to the statement, died at the age of 80 at a hospital in Bern, Switzerland after a short illness.

Reports say the Ghanaian who was the seventh secretary general of the UN who served for two terms between 1997 and 2006, died with his wife Nane, and three children Ama, Kojo and Nina, by his side.

The foundation of the late diplomat issued a statement on his Twitter account on Saturday morning that described him as a “global statesman and deeply committed internationalist who fought throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world”.

The statement added that Annan, who succeeded Boutros Boutros-Ghali as UN leader, was a “son of Ghana and felt a special responsibility towards Africa”.

Here are ten (10) things you should know about him.

1. Kofi A. Annan was the 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations.

2. Kofi Annan joined the UN system in 1962 as an administrative and budget officer with the World Health Organization in Geneva.

3. He’s the founder and chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation.

4. In 2001, he and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. Kofi Annan was praised for being “pre-eminent in bringing new life to the organization.” (Norwegian Nobel Committee, October 2001).

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5. He was the UN–Arab League Joint Special Envoy for Syria, mandated to seek a resolution to the conflict there, from February to August 2012.

6. Mr. Annan is the founding Chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), which works for a food secure and prosperous Africa by promoting rapid, sustainable agricultural growth based on smallholder farmers.

7. He chairs the African Progress Panel, which advocates at the highest level for equitable and sustainable development in Africa.

8. He’s the author of Interventions: A Life in War and Peace was published in 2012.

9. Kofi Annan joined the UN system in 1962 as an administrative and budget officer with the World Health Organization in Geneva.

10. Kofi Annan was born in Kumasi, Ghana, on 8 April 1938. He is married to Nane and between them they have three children.

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