Geneva—Former United Nations Secretary General and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan has died Saturday after a short illness at the age of 80, his foundation announced.
“It is with immense sadness that the Annan family and the Kofi Annan Foundation announce that Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Laureate, passed away peacefully on Saturday 18th August after a short illness,” the foundation said in a statement.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres voiced deep sorrow Saturday at the news his predecessor Kofi Annan had passed away, calling him “a guiding force for good.”
“Kofi Annan was a guiding force for good,” Guterres said in a statement shortly after news broke of Annan’s passing in Switzerland at the age of 80.
“In many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations. He rose through the ranks to lead the organization into the new millennium with matchless dignity and determination,” he added.