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Humans Quotes by Kofi Annan

41 Humans quotes by Kofi Annan

All Humans quotes Kofi Annan’s page

A state that protects its people should not sink to the level of a murderer, Kofi Annan warns. He points out that literacy and education are basic human rights for everyone, everywhere. He also says healthy democracies rest on three pillars: peace and stability, economic growth, and respect for rule of law and human rights.

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International law now grants rights to all human beings, not only to citizens.

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Access to safe water is a fundamental human need and therefore a basic human right.

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A United Nations that will not stand up for human rights is a United Nations that cannot stand up for itself.

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Achieving the MDGs is not optional; it is an essential investment in a safer, more human and prosperous world

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For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.

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Extreme poverty anywhere is a threat to human security everywhere.

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Education is a human right with immense power to transform

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It is impossible to realize our goals while discriminating against half the human race. As study after study has taught us, there…

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The report [by a UN commission on Darfur] demonstrates beyond all doubt that the last two years have been little short of…

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Yehudi Menuhin was a citizen of the world in the fullest sense - one whose vision and culture gave him a deep…

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Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or…

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We will not enjoy security without development, we will not enjoy development without security, and we will not enjoy either without respect…

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...let us continue to work together to develop and nurture in future generations a culture of human rights, to promote freedom, security…

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You saw the traumas that people lived through, and wondered what it will take to move us as a human community, as…

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The reality is that no group of countries has any grounds for complacency about its own human rights performance and no group…

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His Holiness brings a wealth of experience to this exalted office. The United Nations and the Holy See share a strong commitment…

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Often, we take stability - peace in terms of security and economic activity - to mean a country is doing well. We…

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Human rights education is much more than a lesson in schools or a theme for a day; it is a process to…

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Good, healthy democratic societies are built on three pillars: there's peace and stability, economic development, and respect for rule of law and…

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Good, healthy democratic societies are built on three pillars: there's peace and stability, economic development, and respect for rule of law and…

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We're all human. After 10, 15 years you get tired, you run out of steam and ideas, you have to give a…

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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…

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Human beings are not property. On the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, let us reaffirm the inherent dignity of all…

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It is within the family that children learn the values that will guide them for the rest of their lives. It is…

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UN peacekeeping operations are now increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing failed States back to life,…

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For too long the development debate has ignored the fact that poverty tends to be characterized not only by material insufficiency but…

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In an age of interdependence, global citizenship - based on trust and sense of shared responsibility - is a crucial pillar of…

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It is extreme arrogance for one to think he is the only one who can govern his country and nobody else can…

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It is my aspiration that health finally will be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human…

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Beneath the surface of states and nations, ideas and language, lies the fate of individual human beings in need. Answering their needs…

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A citizen of the world in the fullest sense - one whose vision and culture gave him a deep empathy with fellow…

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Let us work in partnerships between rich and poor to improve the opportunities of all human beings to build better lives.

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[Refugees] cannot be stopped, but they can and must be managed better, more humanely, protecting migrants' human rights whilst accepting states' rights…

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[Professional accountants ] should be encouraging companies to enhance their green credentials by switching to renewables, and to respect core labor standards…

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Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark…

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The right to development is the measure of the respect of all other human rights.That should be our aim: a situation in…

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...let us recognize that extreme poverty anywhere is a threat to human security everywhere. Let us recall that poverty is a denial…

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The world has lost a visionary leader, a courageous voice for justice, and a clear moral compass. By showing us that the…

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Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation, and it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries…

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Can the state, which represents the whole of society and has the duty of protecting society, fulfill that duty by lowering itself…

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More by Kofi Annan

All our efforts to defeat poverty and pursue sustainable development will be in vain if environmental degradation and natural resource depletion continue unabated.

UN peacekeeping operations are now increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing failed States back to life, often after…

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…

You will recall that for months after 9/11, there was incredible support and sympathy for the US. I really hoped and wished they had…

A nation has the right to defend itself, but when it comes to the broader issue of peace and security, the legitimacy rests only…

Sometimes when you take a tough action against one side in the conflict, they see you as part of the conflict and they attack…

Some have suggested that ideally there must be some international body that would treat areas like the Arctic as a global commerce, a bit…

In an age of interdependence, global citizenship - based on trust and sense of shared responsibility - is a crucial pillar of progress. At…

We knew the Syrian situation was complex and there were lots of divisions, particularly on the side of the opposition... This is a tough…

The question is the morning after. What sort of Iraq do we wake up to after the bombing? What happens in the region? What…

I laugh a lot inside and outside, and at myself sometimes.

Can the state, which represents the whole of society and has the duty of protecting society, fulfill that duty by lowering itself to the…

As long as inequality and other social problems plague us, populists will try to exploit them.

Developing and newer democracies are much more susceptible to the tactics of populists and demagogues - they often do not have strong institutions, free…

The young and dynamic and idealistic people in the square do not have the chance to organise themselves politically, to be able to follow…