- Former United Nations General Secretary and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan (50) passed away in Bern, Switzerland.
- He had served as seventh Secretary-General of UN for two terms reigning from 1997 till 2006.
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Former United Nations (UN) secretary-general Kofi Annan poses during a photo session in Paris on December 11, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JOEL SAGET[/caption]
- He was first black African to become Secretary-General of UN and also the first to be elected from UN staff itself.
- In 1999, he had launched UN Global Compact initiative, which is now world’s largest effort to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR).
- He was also founder and chairman of Kofi Annan Foundation and chairman of ‘The Elders’, an international organisation founded by Nelson Mandela.
- He was co-recipient of 2001 Nobel peace prize along with the United Nations.
- He had played major role in the formation of two new intergovernmental bodies in 2005 within UN: Peacebuilding Commission and Human Rights Council.