Kofi Annan

1938 - 2018

country of citizenship: Ghana

languages spoken, written or signed: English, French, Akan

educated at: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, MIT Sloan School of Management, Geneva Graduate Institute, Mfantsipim School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Geneva, Macalester College, Sloan Fellows Program

occupation: diplomat, economist, politician, international forum participant

award received: Nobel Peace Prize, Kora Awards, Order of the Star of Ghana, Grand Cross of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria, Grand Cross 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize, Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, Medal of honor Dag Hammarskjold, Torstein Dale Memorial Prize, Confucius Peace Prize, Bruno Kreisky Award for Services to Human Rights, Olof Palme Prize, Indira Gandhi Peace Prize, Four Freedoms Award – Freedom Medal, Philadelphia Liberty Medal, Freedom Award, North–South Prize, Sakharov Prize, Profile in Courage Award, Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow", Collar of the Order of the Star of Romania, Honorary doctors of Ghent University, Fulbright Prize, Honorary doctor of the Dresden University of Technology, Honorary doctor of the Free University of Berlin, Honorary doctorate from the University of Geneva, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, honorary doctor of the University of Uppsala, honorary doctorate from Princeton University, Honorary doctorate from Brown University, Order of the Pioneers of Liberia, Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya, Order Manas, Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, Dostyk Order of grade I, Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class, Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, Grand Collar of the Order of Good Hope, Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru‎, Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo, honorary doctorate of the University of Alcala, honorary doctor of the University of Neuchâtel, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Honorary doctor of the University of Ottawa, honorary doctor of the Zhejiang University, honorary doctor of Harvard University, honorary doctor of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Grand Collar of the Order of Liberty, honorary doctorate from the University of Notre Dame, Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, honorary doctor from the NOVA University Lisbon, honorary doctorate from Carleton University, honorary doctor of the Howard University, FIFA Order of Merit, Annenberg Award for Excellence in Diplomacy

position held: United Nations Secretary-General, United Nations Envoy to Syria

Kofi Atta Annan ( KOH-fee AN-an; 8 April 1938 – 18 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as chairman of The Elders, an international organisation founded by Nelson Mandela.Annan joined the United Nations in 1962, working for the World Health Organization's Geneva office. He went on to work in several capacities at the UN Headquarters, including serving as the Under-Secretary-General for peacekeeping between March 1992 and December 1996. He was appointed secretary-general on 13 December 1996 by the Security Council and later confirmed by the General Assembly, making him the first officeholder to be elected from the UN staff itself. He was re-elected for a second term in 2001 and was succeeded as secretary-general by Ban Ki-moon in 2007. As secretary-general, Annan reformed the UN bureaucracy, worked to combat HIV/AIDS (especially in Africa) and launched the UN Global Compact. He was criticised for not expanding the Security Council and faced calls for his resignation after an investigation into the Oil-for-Food Programme, but was largely exonerated of personal corruption. After the end of his term as secretary-general, he founded the Kofi Annan Foundation in 2007 to work on international development. In 2012, Annan was the UN–Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria to help find a resolution to the ongoing conflict there. Annan quit after becoming frustrated with the UN's lack of progress with regards to conflict resolution. In September 2016, Annan was appointed to lead a UN commission to investigate the Rohingya crisis. He died in 2018 and was given a state funeral. Source: Wikipedia (en)