UN Secretary General Annan Kofi: biography, activities, awards and personal life

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

The United Nations was established in 1945 and has been a guarantor of peace and stability on the path of development all this time. At times, its role weakened somewhat, and at some periods it gained strength again. As the head of an international organization, one could see diplomats from many countries of the world. Kofi Annan became the first representative of the black population of Africa.

Short biography

Annan Kofi Atta is a native of Kumasi, Ghana. It was formerly the British colony of the Gold Coast. His father is the leader of the Fanti tribe. The people of this tribe inhabit Ghana and number about two million people. The future UN Secretary General studied in the United States, and then at the Geneva Institute for International Studies (Switzerland), after which he received a position at the UN as a he alth officer from the World He alth Organization.

Twice married, currently his wife is Swedish citizen Nane Annan. It is known for certain that Annan's son, Kojo, cooperated with his father on some issues.

As head of the UN

The place of the head of such an influentialMr. Annan did not get the organization right away. The representative of Egypt, Boutros-Ghali, ran for this seat, who was ending his first term in this position. The United States vetoed his candidacy, considering it unpopular. Thus, Annan Kofi was elected to such a high post. This situation had a completely political context: Boutros-Ghali opposed the bombing by NATO forces during the Bosnian War, and the US needed a different, more loyal representative of the organization.

As head of the UN, Kofi Annan became famous as a reformer. Despite the fact that the transformations could not be carried out in full, considerable attempts were made. The reason for the reforms, he called the inefficiency of the organization. It was proposed to reduce the number of its staff, document flow and secretariat. However, all these plans remained only on paper.

Talk about the inefficiency of the Organization began to be heard on the sidelines of Headquarters back in the 90s, some world leaders began to openly express this opinion at the sessions of the General Assembly. Some political scientists talk about Annan's responsibility for spreading these thoughts in people's minds.

The personal life of a diplomat

Annan Kofi has been married twice. His first wife was Titilola Alakija, a citizen of Nigeria. In 1981, they decided to break off their union. From this marriage, Annan left two children. The second wife of the diplomat was the Swede Nane Maria Lagergren. She is a lawyer by profession. Since 1983, she has been working in the United States at the UN Headquarters, where she deals with environmental affairs,poverty and other millennium issues.

Nane has a daughter from her first marriage. Kofi Annan's wife is quite famous in Sweden, and after her husband took office as UN Secretary General, she showed herself as a fighter for the freedoms and rights of citizens around the world. It is noteworthy that she is the niece of Raoul Wallenberg, a well-known Swedish diplomat who, according to one version, saved the lives of several tens of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust in Hungary.

Annan Prizes and Awards

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was awarded various orders and prizes. Among them is the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.

1. In South Africa, he was awarded the highest state award - the Order of Good Hope for his contribution to the development of cooperation with South Africa.
2. In 2002 he was awarded the state award of Ukraine - the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise for his personal contribution to the development of cooperation between Ukraine and the international community.
3. In the same 2002, the diplomat was awarded the Gorchakov commemorative medal from the Russian Foreign Ministry. This is the highest award of the Ministry, established in honor of the 200th anniversary of the State Chancellor and His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov.
4. Kazakhstan awarded Mr. Annan the Order of Dostyk of the first degree. Translated from Kazakh, "dostyk" means "friendship".
5. The Republic of Kyrgyzstan awarded the diplomat with the Order of Manas of the first degree. This is the highest state award.
6. He was also awarded Olof Palme, which is awarded for achievements inhuman rights in Sweden.
7. In 2001 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the renewal of the UN. In essence, the award was given for an attempt to rehabilitate the organization and renew it.

Whether or not Kofi Annan was worthy of her, the award, nevertheless, went to him not for empty words, but for his significant contribution to the cause of the United Nations.

Annan's statements

The toughest of his statements were related to the idea of reforming the UN. Here is one of them: “Under the current conditions, responsibility is distributed extremely unevenly among states. Poor and weak states are easily held accountable because they need foreign assistance. However, large and powerful states, whose actions have the greatest impact on others, can be restrained in their actions only by their own people, acting through their domestic institutions.

Many politicians agree with Annan's opinion, but most of them believe that the reform of the UN will not give the results that the Secretary General was striving for. Moreover, there are skeptics who believe that the activities of the general secretary in office and his statements after leaving are radically different. This, for example, concerns the NATO military operation in Iraq, which began in 2003. At that time, the UN Secretary General de alt exclusively with humanitarian issues and did not try to prevent the invasion, which, as it turned out already in 2004, was based on falsified US data about allegedIraq's weapons of mass destruction. In 2015, Annan will say in Munich that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake and generally contributed to the creation of a Daesh terrorist base on its territory.

Scandals

While still at the UN, Annan faced a number of scandals. One of them could have cost the Secretary General a post, but nothing happened. Annan oversaw the international UN oil-for-food program, the contract for which was given to Cotecna. In 2004, information appeared in the press that the son of the Secretary General, Kojo Annan, received money from Cotecna representatives. Kofi Annan denied these allegations, calling them outrageous. The investigation did not prove the connection of the company with the family of the general secretary, but the news left a stain on his reputation, in connection with which he was even offered to resign.

Another scandal was also connected with 2004. It turned out that British intelligence MI6 was secretly listening to Annan.

After leaving the post of head of the UN, Annan until 2012 worked under the roof of the organization as an envoy of goodwill on various issues. Huge experience of diplomatic work helps him today.

Interesting facts

The Fanti people, to whom Annan belongs, are considered black and white in Ghana. This is due to the education of many members of the tribe and the passion for education.

The name "Kofi" is translated from the language of the tribe as "born on Friday". This is an ancient tradition of the people.

HimselfMr. Annan looks very much like the famous American actor Morgan Freeman. They are often confused by passers-by on the street, which both have long been accustomed to.

Annan's nephew plays for the Ghana football team under the name Anthony Annan. He also plays for Norwegian club Stabaek.

The world has changed

After Kofi Annan left his high post, he continued to express the idea that not only the UN, but also the Security Council should be reformed. So, in an interview with The Guardian, Annan said that the permanent members of the UN Security Council should take up the procedure for including other permanent members. By the way, he noted that neither the United States nor Russia showed interest in this topic.

He expressed this opinion for the first time in 2004, followed by a "battle" between countries for the post of permanent representative. All the permanent members of the UN Security Council then voted against the resolution on expansion, despite Annan's words that we must change along with the world, which has already changed.

Negotiations to resolve the crisis in Syria

One of the first negotiators to resolve the Syrian issue was Kofi Annan. His biography allowed him to become not only a UN representative on this issue, but also to go much further. However, he did not achieve success in this post, perhaps due to the fact that the conflict itself was then in limbo.

Today we are seeing how this issue is de alt with in GenevaStephen de Mistura. Negotiations are going very hard, and few people believe in their positive outcome. Today, we, like Mr. Annan, can only hope for the normalization of relations in a world that is on the verge of more and more conflicts.