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I spent my youth and my most formative years in Africa. I left Africa when I was about 20, 21, and when Mo says a great African, I was really moulded by my African experience, although I had the good fortune that by the time I was 24 I had studied and worked on three continents - Africa, the US, and Europe.

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
Experience
Africa
Left
Although
Three
Spent
Great
Fortune
Moulded
Years
Worked
Formative
Really
Europe
Continents
Good
Youth
Studied
Time
Says
African

More quotes by Kofi Annan

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Elections with integrity are a challenge everywhere, including in the West.
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Young people - with their dynamism, their energy and their inherent understanding of our interconnected world - have much to teach us. Increased educational attainment, advances in technology and the spread of information have made this generation the best educated, most connected and most informed in history
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We have to choose between a global market driven only by calculations of short-term profit, and one which has a human face.
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Access to a secure, safe and sufficient source of fresh water is a fundamental requirement for the survival, well-being and socio-economic development of all humanity. Yet, we continue to act as if fresh water were a perpetually abundant resource. It is not.
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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.
Kofi Annan
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Generals often find a way of dealing with generals on the officer-to-officer level. In the hierarchy of the military and with the almost similar structure and similar language, they find a way of dealing with each other.
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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.
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We must restore the sacredness of the family as a bedrock of humane values everywhere, in peace as well as in war.
Kofi Annan
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Let us work in partnerships between rich and poor to improve the opportunities of all human beings to build better lives.
Kofi Annan
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In the 21st Century I believe the mission of the United Nations will be defined by a new, more profound, awareness of the sanctity and dignity of every human life, regardless of race or religion.
Kofi Annan
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The United Nations is proud to have the Adopt-A-Minefield Campaign as a partner.
Kofi Annan
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Sometimes when you take a tough action against one side in the conflict, they see you as part of the conflict and they attack you.
Kofi Annan
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Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development.
Kofi Annan
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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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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
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The fight against HIV/AIDS requires leadership from all parts of government - and it needs to go right to the top. AIDS is far more than a health crisis. It is a threat to development itself.
Kofi Annan
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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.
Kofi Annan
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When things are really desperate and hopeless and you can't do anything about this, and there's a sense that something must be done, that is something usually leads to the U.N.
Kofi Annan
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A nation has the right to defend itself, but when it comes to the broader issue of peace and security, the legitimacy rests only with the Security Council.
Kofi Annan
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We were all children once. And we all share the desire for the well-being of our children, which has always been and will continue to be the most universally cherished aspiration of humankind.
Kofi Annan