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

Kofi Annan

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Kofi Annan
Age: 80 †
Born: 1938
Born: April 8
Died: 2018
Died: August 18
Diplomat
Economist
Politician
Coomassie
Kofi Atta Annan
Annan
Kofi A. Annan
Need
Needs
World
People
Rwanda
Failed
Hour
Greatest
Hours

More quotes by Kofi Annan

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We need to keep hope alive and strive to do better.
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However much one tries to suppress the will of the people they eventually will have the last word.
Kofi Annan
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As I travel around the world, people think the only place where there is potential conflict [over] water is the Middle East, but they are completely wrong. We have the problem all over the world.
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One of my biggest regrets was the fact that as an institution and an international community we could not stop the war in Iraq. That really was very difficult and very painful. Every fibre in my body felt it was wrong. I spoke to leaders, we spoke to people, we tried... we couldn't stop it... and we see the results.
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The report [by a UN commission on Darfur] demonstrates beyond all doubt that the last two years have been little short of hell on earth for our fellow human beings in Darfur.
Kofi Annan
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I was devastated by the atrocious bombings that struck London today. These vicious acts have cut us all to the core, for they are an attack on humanity itself. [7th July 2005 - on London bombings
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I was an ordinary boy at school, a young man. In fact, what did the headmaster once say? You're constantly challenging those in authority questioning and challenging those in authority. Which was not really the way I saw it. I felt there were questions that had to be answered, and things that weren't quite right.
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I've been around enough to realise that there are two things that once people have them, they don't want to give up, and it's extremely difficult to convince them to give up: one is privileges, and the other is subsidies.
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Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories.
Kofi Annan
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I am not afraid to dream. You first have to start with a dream. Build your castles in the air and give it foundation. Without a dream, you are not going to get anywhere.
Kofi Annan
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After the end of the cold war, everybody thought, fantastic, finally the UN may be able to do what it was originally set up to do without big power divisions. It would be easy to get them to come together to resolve things. You will recall, on the first Gulf war, you almost got a unanimous resolution and a very solid coalition.
Kofi Annan
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Elections with integrity are a challenge everywhere, including in the West.
Kofi Annan
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Let us, above all, be clear that, without a convincing program of debt relief to start the new millennium, our objective of halving world poverty by 2015 will be only a pipe dream.
Kofi Annan
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I often quote an African proverb that says: The world is not ours, the earth is not ours, It's a treasure we hold in trust for future generations. And I often hope we will be worthy of that trust.
Kofi Annan
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The reality is that no group of countries has any grounds for complacency about its own human rights performance and no group of countries does itself justice by automatically slipping into the victim mode . . . .
Kofi Annan
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The question is the morning after. What sort of Iraq do we wake up to after the bombing? What happens in the region? What impact could it have? These are questions leaders I have spoken to have posed.
Kofi Annan
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Gather the five virtues (Dignity, Confidence, Courage, Compassion, and Faith). Then you are a man.
Kofi Annan
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You are never too young to lead.
Kofi Annan
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Acquiring literacy is an empowering process, enabling millions to enjoy access to knowledge and information which broadens horizons, increases opportunities and creates alternatives for building a better life.
Kofi Annan
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If you are neutral in a situation where one side is patently being mistreated, the conclusion is that you're siding with this wrong.
Kofi Annan