ANNAN, KOFI

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06813849
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: March 9, 2023
• Document Release Date: August 12, 2020
• Case Number: F-2018-02369
• Publication Date: August 27, 1997

Approved for Release: 2020/07/29 C06813849
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Kofi ANNAN
(Phonetic: ANen)
Secretary General, UN (since January 1997)
Addressed as: Mr. Secretary Genera
We [at the UN] have the means to pursue our
highest aims. Our great challenge is to summon
the will of the world.
Kofi Annan, June 1997
Since his election, Kofi Annan has moved
aggressively to address his mandate to reform the
185-member organization. Annan has drawn
heavily upon his strengths as a 34-year UN
veteran; a savvy, disarming negotiator; and an
organized, progressive manager. He has proved
himself an effective collaborator, traveled to over a
dozen countries to engage the UN's myriad
constituencies, and launched an impressive public
relations campaign to gamer support for the
besieged organization. Annan has used his
authority to decentralize decisionmaking at the
UN's headquarters, demand improved
communication among department heads and
cutbacks in administrative overhead, and begin
streamlining offices based in New York;
nonetheless, his ultimate test will come as he tries
to implement broader institutional changes.
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RefonO
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In his attempts to advance UN reform, Annan
has been praised for his
extensive collaboration and open managerial
approach
GHANA
Annan has never before
faced such pressure from UN bureaucrats and
member states�many of whom support reform in
general terms but do not want it to come at their
expense.
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he is from a
family of paramount chiefs of the Fante people,
who are known in Ghana to be peacemakers
among opposing political forces. He has openly
admitted he does not always enjoy the pressures of
"juggling so many decisions and pressures," and he
has told the media that he knows he cannot please
everyone: "If you do what is right and if you have
the arguments on your side and you can convince
others, they will follow. My track record is clear:
I'm a man of results. . . But I can get it without
being necessarily nasty to others." Arman's
biggest test for toughness in mediations probably
came when he was the UN's Special
Representative to the former Yugoslavia in 1995;
he won praise in the end, even among diverse
Balkan factions, for reaching agreements and
delivering results. Notwithstanding his previous
successes under fire, his challenge as Secretary
General will be to enforce hard decisions on reform
while maintaining his soft touch.
(continued)
LP 97-106955
27 August 1997
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Approved for Release: 2020/07/29 C06813849
Approved for Release: 2020/07/29 C06813849
Career Highlights
1963 Began UN career, World Health
Organization, Geneva.
1965-71 Administrative officer, then chief of
personnel section, Economic
Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa.
1974-76 Left UN to manage government-owned
Ghana Tourist Development Company.
1976-80 Returned to UN as deputy chief of staff
services, Office of Personnel Services.
1980-84 Deputy director of administration
directorate, UN High Commissioner for
Refugees, Geneva.
1984-86 Named director of the budget, UN Office
of Financial Services.
1986-90 Promoted to assistant secretary general
for human resources management.
1990-92 UN comptroller and director, Office of
Program, Planning, Budget, and Finance.
1992-93 Assistant secretary general, Office of
Peacekeeping Operations.
1993-96 Director, Department for Peacekeeping
Operations.
December
1996 Elected UN Secretary General.
A Seasoned Troubleshooter
Annan has adeptly handled a variety of
international matters involving the UN. His
experience and contacts from his days as Director
of the UN Peacekeeping Department have helped
him oversee the UN's role in trouble spots that
include the Great Lakes region, the Balkans,
Cyprus, Guatemala, Sierra Leone, and Iraq. His
policy focus has largely been on non-European
issues, particularly related to humanitarian-refugee
assistance, political stability, and economic
development in Africa and other developing
regions. In an opening address to African leaders
at the OAU summit in early June, he challenged
them to advance constitutional ofder, hurfiad-
rights, and sustainable developmen
worded and made a
audience.
Personal Notes (U)
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his speech was strongly (b)(3)
owerful impact on the
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Annan was born a twin on 8 April 1938 near
Kumasi, Ghana. He has studied at the University
of Science and Technology in Ghana (1958-59),
Macalester College in Minnesota (1959-61), the
International Institute of Higher Studies in
Switzerland (1961-62), and the Sloan School of
Management at MIT (1971-72). Annan speaks
excellent English, French, and several African
languages, including Twi and Fante.
Annan's first marriage to a Nigerian ended in
divorce. In 1994, Annan married the former Nane
Lagergren, a Swedish national who is the niece of
Raoul Wallenberg.
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The couple has three
adult children from previous marriages.
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Approved for Release: 2020/07/29 C06813849
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