Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan dies aged 80

Colombo (News 1st) - Former UN Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kofi Annan has died at age 80, a UN agency confirmed today (August 18).

He is said to have died in Switzerland, Saturday(August 18) morning after a short illness.

Kofi Annan, who was born in Ghana in 1938, served as the seventh UN Secretary-General, from 1997 to 2006, and was the first to rise from within the ranks of the United Nations staff. He had been a member of The Elders, a group of global leaders working for human rights since it was founded in 2007. In 2013, he became its chairman.

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... pic.twitter.com/42nGOxmcPZ

— Kofi Annan (@KofiAnnan) August 18, 2018