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We tend to look at countries in terms of failed states and functioning states, which is rather simplistic.

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
Simplistic
States
Look
Functioning
Looks
Failed
Country
Tend
Countries
Terms
Term
Rather

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Open markets offer the only realistic hope of pulling billions of people in developing countries out of abject poverty, while sustaining prosperity in the industrialized world.
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Let us all reaffirm our commitment to improving the well- being of families throughout the world.
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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.
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I did not always achieve what I set out to do. Nevertheless, my personal example certainly suggests that hands-on experience can be helpful to future leaders.
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HIV/AIDS has become much more than a health issue. HIV/AIDS is a development issue, it's a security issue.
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It is tragic that so few young people in Western democracies vote. They have forgotten that their ancestors fought for the right to choose and change their leaders. They don't realise that their votes are more important than their tweets or Facebook posts.
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In an era of global abundance, our world has the resources to reduce dramatically the massive divides that persist between rich and poor, if only those resources can be unleashed in the service of all peoples.
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International law now grants rights to all human beings, not only to citizens.
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In countries where democracy is either non-existent or in development, on the other hand, citizens crave those freedoms. Maybe that is one lesson Western citizens can learn from those countries: treasure what you have. Use your rights and freedoms to effect the change you want.
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Asked whether donor nations may be becoming fatigued ... The fatigue may be there, but I don't think we can justify it in the face of such misery. We may need to wake up our conscience and our conscience must force us to act.
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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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It is extreme arrogance for one to think he...and it's usually he, is the only one who can govern his country and nobody else can do it.
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Perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol.
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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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On this International Literacy Day, let us recall that literacy for all is an integral part of education for all, and that both are critical for achieving truly sustainable development for all.
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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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If you have a problem and you can't find a solution, you meet again tomorrow and you keep talking until you find a solution. You can disagree with behavior or a particular position, but you do not resort to calling an opponent worthless.
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Nelson Mandela stands as an inspiration to us all
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I think what gives me hope is I have the sense that the people of Kenya have turned the page. They are keen to get a new political dispensation. They are keen to fight corruption and impunity, and in that sense they are leaving the political elite behind.
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For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.
Kofi Annan