Kofi Annan

Kofi Annan

Diplomat, Politician

Kofi Annan was a Ghanaian diplomat and the first African to serve as UN Secretary-General, known for his efforts in promoting peace and sustainable development.

People Country Rights Thinking War World
Born
April 8, 1938
Quotes
333
Rank
#239

Quote collection

Kofi Annan quotes (page 8 of 17)

333 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.

Kofi Annan Diplomat, Politician
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"I believe that our world needs an instrument of global action as never before in history. I believe that the United Nations is the instrument for securing peace and for giving people everywhere, in poorer countries as in richer, a real stake in that peace by promoting development and encouraging cooperation. But the United Nations is only an instrument, an actor in need of props and cues from its directors, And so I will paraphrase Winston Churchill: Give us the tools-the trust, the authority and the means-and we will do the job."

Trust Country Jobs
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Kofi Annan Diplomat, Politician
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"The preservation of biodiversity is not just a job for governments. International and non-governmental organisations, the private sector and each and every individual have a role to play in changing entrenched outlooks and ending destructive patterns of behaviour"

Nature Jobs Government
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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."

Children Desire Share
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"Founded on the principles of private initiative, entrepreneurship and self-employment, underpinned by the values of democracy, equality and solidarity, the co-operative movement can help pave the way to a more just and inclusive economic order."

Self Order Entrepreneur
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Kofi Annan Diplomat, Politician
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"The international community... allows nearly 3 billion people - almost half of all humanity - to subsist on $2 or less a day in a world of unprecedented wealth."

People Community Humanity
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Kofi Annan Diplomat, Politician
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"The US-led invasion of Iraq was an illegal act that contravened the UN charter."

War Iraq Invasion
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Kofi Annan Diplomat, Politician
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"The gap between the rich and the poor cannot keep growing without nothing being done about it."

Done Growing Gaps
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"I think that in the West, many citizens, especially younger citizens, take their freedoms and institutions for granted and focus on their frustrations with their governments' inability to solve pressing problems."

Frustration Thinking Government
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Kofi Annan Diplomat, Politician
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"Neutrality is a tough call for the weaker ones."

Neutrality Tough
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"Slavery was, in a very real sense, the first international human rights issue to come to the fore. It led to the adoption of the first human rights laws and to the creation of the first human rights non-governmenta l organization. And yet despite the efforts of the international community to combat this abhorrent practice, it is still widely prevalent in all its insidious forms, old and new."

Real Rights Law
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"Today, no walls can separate humanitarian or human rights crises in one part of the world from national security crises in another. What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life all too often ends with a calamity for entire nations."

Wall Rights World
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"Extreme poverty anywhere is a threat to human security everywhere."

Poverty Prowess Threat
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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."

Issues Hiv Development
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"Most governments only want to deploy a peacekeeping force where there is a peace agreement and there is peace to keep. They are very hesitant about putting their men and women in harm's way. It is extremely difficult to get the troops if you do not have the consent of the country where you are deploying."

Country Men Want
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"National markets are held together by shared values and confidence in certain minimum standards. But in the new global market, people do not yet have that confidence."

People Together Standards
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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."

Morning Impact Iraq
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"However much one tries to suppress the will of the people they eventually will have the last word."

People Trying Lasts
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