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Does anyone seriously contend that any nation can fend for itself?

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
Seriously
Nation
Anyone
Nations
Doe
Fend
Contend

More quotes by Kofi Annan

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Iraq has a new opportunity to comply with all these relevant resolutions of the Security Council.
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The right to development is the measure of the respect of all other human rights.That should be our aim: a situation in which all individuals are enabled to maximize their potential, and to contribute to the evolution of society as a whole.
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Access to safe water is a fundamental human need and therefore a basic human 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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Achieving the MDGs is not optional it is an essential investment in a safer, more human and prosperous world
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When the US withdrew their troops from Somalia, I recall making a comment that [in] the way the peacekeepers had been withdrawn from Somalia, the impression had been given that the easiest way to unravel a peacekeeping operation is to kill a few soldiers.
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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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When women thrive, all of society benefits, and succeeding generations are given a better start in life.
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I think that peacekeeping can do quite a lot, if they are given the right mandate with the commensurate resources to get the job done.
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Neutrality is a tough call for the weaker ones.
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These divisions in the international community - the Syrians bear quite a lot of the blame, but we have enabled it by the divisions between us.
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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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More than ever before in human history, we share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together. And that, my friends, is why we have the United Nations.
Kofi Annan
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One has to have the strength of character to say the time has come to move on... unless you are a king.
Kofi Annan
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If there is one area where equity is crucial and essential, I think it should be the issue of water.
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
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I think the generational change is going to be so important for Africa that we really should encourage and push it as much as we can, because some of these younger men and women, who are men and women of their times, and are also connected to the rest of the world, wouldn't even know how to behave in the way some of the old leaders do.
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The number one goal in resolving a conflict is to make sure both sides maintain their self-esteem. You don't hit a man on the head when you've got your fingers between his teeth.
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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.
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Landmines are among the most barbaric weapons of war, because they continue to kill and maim innocent people long after the war itself has ended. Also, fear of them keeps people off the land, and thus prevents them from growing food.
Kofi Annan