80-year-old former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan passed away on Saturday morning August 18 in Switzerland. In a statement posted on Twitter, the Kofi Annan Foundation and Mr Annan’s family announced that the Nobel Laureate passed away after a short illness.
“Today we mourn the loss of a great man, a leader, and a visionary: former UN Secretary General KofiAnnan. A life well lived. A life worth celebrating,” the United Nation Migration Agency wrote.
Today we mourn the loss of a great man, a leader, and a visionary: former @UN Secretary General @KofiAnnan.
A life well lived. A life worth celebrating. pic.twitter.com/3sLmy7VS2p
— IOM – UN Migration (@UNmigration) August 18, 2018
In a statement announcing his death, the Kofi Annan Foundation described him as “a global statesman and deeply committed internationalist who fought throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world”.
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
“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,” the Kofi Annan Foundation said.
Annan was the first black African to take up the role of the world’s top diplomat, serving from 1997 to 2006. He later served as the UN special envoy for Syria, leading efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Annan’s tenure as UN secretary-general coincided with the Iraq War and the HIV/Aids pandemic.
