Quotes by Kofi Annan

About Kofi Annan:

Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006. Annan and the United Nations were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize "for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world." He is the founder and the Chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as being the chairman of The Elders, a group founded by Nelson Mandela.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The Lord had the wonderful advantage of being able to work alone.

Kofi Annan

If you have a problem and you can't find a solution, you meet again tomorrow and you keep talking until you find a solution. You can disagree with behavior or a particular position, but you do not resort to calling an opponent worthless.

Kofi Annan

Nous devions convaincre la communauté mondiale que la souveraineté devait désormais être considérée comme conditionnée à la responsabilité des États à assurer les droits de leur peuple - et donc être prise autant au sérieux que la volon...

Kofi Annan

It has been said that arguing against globalization is like arguing against the laws of gravity.

Kofi Annan

We must ensure that the global market is embedded in broadly shared values and practices that reflect global social needs, and that all the world's people share the benefits of globalization.

Kofi Annan

We have to choose between a global market driven only by calculations of short-term profit, and one which has a human face.

Kofi Annan

Above all else, we need a reaffirmation of political commitment at the highest levels to reducing the dangers that arise both from existing nuclear weapons and from further proliferation.

Kofi Annan

In their greatest hour of need, the world failed the people of Rwanda.

Kofi Annan

In the rush for justice it is important not to lose sight of principles the country holds dear.

Kofi Annan

To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.

Kofi Annan

Unfortunately, very few governments think about youth unemployment when they are drawing up their national plans.

Kofi Annan

We have the means and the capacity to deal with our problems, if only we can find the political will.

Kofi Annan

Iraq has a new opportunity to comply with all these relevant resolutions of the Security Council.

Kofi Annan

If the United Nations does not attempt to chart a course for the world's people in the first decades of the new millennium, who will?

Kofi Annan

The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the states in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being.

Kofi Annan

If we can come up with innovations and train young people to take on new jobs, and if we can switch to clean energy, I think we have the capacity to build this world not dependent on fossil-fuel. I think it will happen, and it won't destroy economy.

Kofi Annan

I have always believed that on important issues, the leaders must lead. Where the leaders fail to lead, and people are really concerned about it, the people will take the lead and make the leaders follow.

Kofi Annan

National markets are held together by shared values and confidence in certain minimum standards. But in the new global market, people do not yet have that confidence.

Kofi Annan

I don't share the view that the ICC is anti-African. The ICC is not putting Africa on trial. The ICC is fighting impunity and individuals who are accused of crimes.

Kofi Annan

What governments and people don't realise is that sometimes the collective interest - the international interest - is also the national interest.

Kofi Annan

Author Bio

  • NameKofi Annan
  • Description7th Secretary-General of the United Nations
  • AliasesKofi Atta Annan
  • BornApril 8, 1938
  • CountryGhana
  • ProfessionDiplomat; Economist; Politician
  • AwardsNobel Peace Prize; Kora Awards; Order Of The Star Of Romania; Order Of The Star Of Ghana; Decoration Of Honour For Services To The Republic Of Austria; Grand Merit Cross 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; ; ; Confucius Peace Prize; Bruno Kreisky Award; Olof Palme Prize; Indira Gandhi Prize; Four Freedoms Award - Freedom Medal; Philadelphia Liberty Medal; Eleanor Roosevelt Award For Human Rights; Freedom Award; North–South Prize; Sakharov Prize; Profile In Courage Award