Former United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has died at the age of 80 after a short illness, his family and foundation announced on Saturday.
He died in hospital in Bern, Switzerland with his wife, Nane, and three children Ama, Kojo and Nina, by his side. He retired to Geneva and later lived in a Swiss village.
The Ghanaian was the seventh secretary general of the UN who served for two terms between 1997 and 2006 and won the Nobel peace prize for his humanitarian work.
Annan’s foundation 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”.
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
Born in Kumasi, Ghana, on 8 April 1938, Annan was the first secretary general to emerge from the ranks of UN staff.
He joined the UN system in 1962 as an administrative officer with the World Health Organization in Geneva. Annan later served with the Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, the UN Emergency Force in Ismailia, the UN high commissioner for refugees in Geneva and in several senior posts at its headquarters in New York.
Before becoming secretary general, he was under-secretary general for peacekeeping and also served as special representative of the secretary general to the former Yugoslavia between 1995 and 1996.
