Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan dies at 80By: Annie Yager, Xiro Xone News August 18, 2018 Updated: 6:20 PM PT
Photo: AAP
Former Secretary-General to the United Nations Kofi Annan died Saturday, from an unexplained short illness at the age of 80 his family and the Kofi Annan Foundation said in a statement which was posted on Twitter.
“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 statement reads.
Annan, served from 1997 to 2007 becoming the first African to serve as United Nations secretary-general.
After his retirement he remained active on the international stage. He established the Kofi Annan Foundation, in 2007 an independent, not-for-profit organization that works to promote a more peaceful world. Annan, and the UN won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 "for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world.” Annan, was born in the West African nation of Ghana in 1938. Current U.N. secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, issued a statement following Annan's passing. "Kofi Annan was a guiding force for good. It is with profound sadness that I learned of his passing. In many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations," Guterres said. "He rose through the ranks to lead the organization into the new millennium with matchless dignity and determination."
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