Former secretary general of the United Nations Kofi Annan died in the early hours of Saturday in Switzerland after a short illness, according to a statement issued by his family. He was 80.
His family described him as a “son of Ghana” and said he always felt a special responsibility towards Africa.
The United Nations Migration Agency confirmed his death in a tweet, saying: “Today we mourn the loss of a great man, a leader, and a visionary: former @UN Secretary General @KofiAnnan. A life well lived. A life worth celebrating.”
The Nobel Peace Prize winner was born in Ghana in 1938 and served as the seventh Secretary General of UN from 1997 to 2006. He was the first black African to take up the role of the world’s top diplomat. He had also served as the UN special envoy for Syria.
Annan was outspoken on the Iraq war, and in an interview to BBC in 2004 told that the war was illegal.
After stepping down from the UN, he continued to work for peace as chairman of a Kofi Annan Foundation and as chair of The Elders, set up Nelson Mandela.
