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Secretary-General of the UN from 1997 to 2006

Kofi Atta Annan (KOH-fee AN-an,^[1]-⁠ AH-nahn;^[2] 8 April 1938 – 18 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006.^[3] Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.^[4] He was the founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as chairman of The Elders, an international organisation founded by Nelson Mandela.^[5]

Annan joined the United Nations in 1962, working for the World Health Organization's Geneva office.

He went on to work in several capacities at the UN Headquarters, including serving as the Under-Secretary-General for peacekeeping between March 1992 and December 1996. He was appointed secretary-general on 13 December 1996 by the Security Council and later confirmed by the General Assembly, making him the first officeholder to be el