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People Quotes by Kofi Annan

59 People quotes by Kofi Annan

All People quotes Kofi Annan’s page

Kofi Annan says young idealists often lack a chance to organize politically, and that good citizenship and democracy grow over a lifetime. He warns that terrorism attacks the UN’s core values, and he calls for innovation and clean energy to lift billions out of poverty. He also stresses that landmines continue to harm civilians long after wars end.

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Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts itself off from its youth severs its lifeline.

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However much one tries to suppress the will of the people they eventually will have the last word.

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The people of Serbia want to have a say in the decisions affecting them. And I hope that this choice and their…

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It's not that easy to quit. When you look back in the American system it is very rare that people quit on…

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Normally when people resign they will organise their champagne farewell parties... and then they resurface somewhere.

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In their greatest hour of need, the world failed the people of Rwanda.

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As one of my predecessors said, our objective is not to take people to heaven, but to prevent humanity from going to…

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Microfinance recognizes that poor people are remarkable reservoirs of energy and knowledge

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You have made people listen. You have made people care, and you have taught us that whether we are poor or prosperous,…

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The drafters of the [Refugee Convention ] had the Cold War in mind and mainly sought to protect a few thousand dissidents…

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The international community... allows nearly 3 billion people - almost half of all humanity - to subsist on $2 or less a…

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Jewish people have been victims of anti-Semitism in many parts of the world, and in Europe they were the target of the…

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It is tragic that so few young people in Western democracies vote. They have forgotten that their ancestors fought for the right…

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Microfinance recognizes that poor people are remarkable reservoirs of energy and knowledge, posing an untapped opportunity to create markets, bring people in…

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What governments and people don't realise is that sometimes the collective interest - the international interest - is also the national interest.

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Change is a process which has to be managed. If it's managed and managed well in the interest of the nation and…

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Young people - with their dynamism, their energy and their inherent understanding of our interconnected world - have much to teach us.…

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The main point in our report was to recommend decriminalization...because of the way laws are applied, which have not worked. We have…

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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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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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I believe that our world needs an instrument of global action as never before in history. I believe that the United Nations…

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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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The past year's natural disasters have highlighted the invaluable contributions of volunteers in our communities. They have volunteered their time, energy and…

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One of my biggest regrets was the fact that as an institution and an international community we could not stop the war…

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The Arab spring reminds me a bit of the decolonisation process where one country gets independence and everybody else wants it. How…

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I am often asked what can people do to become a good global citizen? I reply that it begins in your own…

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Have confidence in the young people, give them a chance, and they will surprise you.

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Usually, when you look around the world, people are killing each other, fighting over scarce resources.

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If the United Nations does not attempt to chart a course for the world's people in the first decades of the new…

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Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace.

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I urge the Iraqi leadership for sake of its own people... to seize this opportunity and thereby begin to end the isolation…

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I have always believed that on important issues, the leaders must lead. Where the leaders fail to lead, and people are really…

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No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over…

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The United Nations believes that acceptance of these principles will help the Palestinian people achieve their legitimate goal of an end to…

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I think what gives me hope is I have the sense that the people of Kenya have turned the page. They are…

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In an era of globalisation, AIESEC's programmes have helped young people around the world to develop a broader understanding of cultural socio-economic…

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

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National markets are held together by shared values and confidence in certain minimum standards. But in the new global market, people do…

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We at the U.N. have to take some of the blame, because we have not lowered expectations creating the impression we are…

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It is not in the United Nations that the Millennium Development Goals will be achieved. They have to be achieved in each…

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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…