Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland today honoured the memory of the late Mr Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, hailing the transformative impact of his leadership on international relations, as well as his generous support for the work of the Commonwealth.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland today honoured the memory of the late Mr Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, hailing the transformative impact of his leadership on international relations, as well as his generous support for the work of the Commonwealth.
Attending his state funeral this morning in Accra, the Secretary-General joined a congregation of world leaders and citizens from all walks of life to give thanks for the life and work of the Ghanaian statesman, who led the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006.
“Kofi Annan was a great son of Africa and of the Commonwealth. His unflagging commitment to world peace and multilateralism bore fruit in closer international cooperation on global development, for the enduring benefit of all humanity,” she stated.
Mr Annan was a firm supporter of the Commonwealth, which he described as “truly one of the United Nations’ leading sister bodies.”
During his tenure as Secretary-General, the Commonwealth signed Memorandums of Understanding with a number of United Nations agencies, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
“The Commonwealth has a unique place and role within the international community. It harnesses the creative energy, traditions and values of more than two billion people around the world. It strongly promotes democracy, good governance, human rights and sustainable development,” Mr Annan said in an address on Commonwealth Day in 2016.
“Today, the Commonwealth stands as a confident, modern, multicultural and proudly inclusive organisation.”
Mr Annan passed away at the age of 80. He was the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations and the first national of a Sub-Saharan Africa country to hold the post.
