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Home / Awards / Path to Peace Award / 2000 THE PATH TO PEACE AWARD RECIPIENTS 2000 - His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan 
Mr. Kofi Annan was born in Kumasi, Ghana on 8 April 1938. He and his wife, Nane, have three children. Mr. Annan studied at the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi and completed his undergraduate work in economics at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1961. From 1961 to 1962, he undertook graduate studies in economics at the Institut Universitaire des Hautes Études Internationales in Geneva. As a 1971-1972 Sloan Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mr. Annan received a Master of Science degree in management. Mr. Annan joined the United Nations system in 1962 as an administrative and budget officer with the World Health Organization in Geneva. Since then, he has served with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa; the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF II) in Ismalia; the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva; and at United Nations Headquarters in New York, as Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management and Security Coordinator for the United Nations System(1987-1990), and Assistant Secretary-General for Programme Planning, Budget and Finance, and Controller (1990-1992). In 1990, following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, Mr. Annan was asked by the Secretary-General, as a special assignment, to facilitate the repatriation of more than 900 international staff and the release of Western hostages in Iraq. He subsequently let the first United Nations team negotiating with Iraq on the sale of oil to fund the purchase of humanitarian aid. Mr. Annan served as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations (March 1993-February 1994) and then as Under-Secretary-General (February 1994-October 1995; and again from April 1996-December 1996). His tenure as Under-Secretary-General coincided with unprecedented growth in the size and scope of United Nations peacekeeping operations, with a total deployment, at its peak in 1995, of almost 70,000 military and civilian personnel from 77 countries. From November 1995 to march 1996, following the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Annan served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the former Yugoslavia, overseeing the transition in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) to the multinational Implementation Force (IFOR) led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). On 1 January 1997, Mr. Annan began his term as Secretary-General. His first major initiative was a plan for reform, "Renewing the United Nations", which was presented to the Members States in July 1997 and has been pursued ever since with an emphasis on improving coherence and coordination. Mr. Annan has taken several efforts to draw the attention and commitment of the international community to Africa, the world's most disadvantaged region. In April 1998, he presented a report to the Security Council on "The Causes of Conflict and the Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa". Mr. Annan has used his good offices in several political situations. In February 1998, Mr. Annan responded to a request of Pope John Paul II and others that he make a special visit to Iraq in order to defuse the crisis and gain Iraq's compliance with security Council resolutions. He helped to promote the transition to civilian rule in Nigeria, to resolve the conflict and violence in East Timor, and he has taken great efforts to build peace in the former Yugoslavia, a topic which he discussed with the Pope during his visit to Rome in June 1999. Mr. Annan's interventions to build peace have also been at the economic and social front. In his most recent report, "We the Peoples: the Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century", he urged nations to take action in the areas of poverty, safe drinking water, education, debt relief, youth employment and HIV/AIDS. In the face of a globalizing world, Mr. Anna has constantly reaffirmed human dignity and the centrality of the human person. In his own words, "We must put people at the centre of everything we do. No calling is more noble, and no responsibility greater, than that of enabling men, women and children, in cities and villages around the world to make their lives better. Only when that begins to happen will we know that globalization is indeed becoming inclusive, allowing everyone to share its opportunities." In recognition of his outstanding service and tireless efforts for the cause of peace, His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan is honored this with the 2000 Path to Peace Award.
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