ANNAN, KOFI

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06813853
• 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: September 6, 2003

Approved for Release: 2020/07/29 C06813853
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This profile is based on information available as of 6 September 2003 and does not reflect developments since that time.
Kofi Atta ANNAN
(Phonetic: AN-en)
Secretary General, United Nations (since 1997)
Addressed as: Mr. Secretary General
In 2001 the UN General Assembly (UNGA)
overwhelmingly reelected Kofi Annan�only the
seventh secretary general in the UN's more than 50-
year history�to a second five-year term, the same
year in which Annan, and the UN, won the Nobel
peace prize for being "preeminent in bringing new
life to the Organization." A devout multilateralist,
Annan often says that problems such as war,
terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, disease,
economic inequality, and environmental concerns
are "problems without borders" and should be
addressed in international forums.
Observers have noted that Annan has an uncanny
ability to focus selflessly on the issues at hand and
on the interests of the UN�his image is that of the
consummate public servant
Before the 58th UNGA, the Secretary General
began mulling over ways to restructure the UN.
Working Key Ihes With Washington
Annan considers the United States the cornerstone
of the UN and recognizes that he cannot afford bad
relations with Washington,
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Annan has been frustrated, however, by US rejection
of some arms control treaties, the imbroglio over the
International Criminal Court, and the US-led
military action in Iraq, making it difficult for him to
weigh in publicly on Washington's side on
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controversial issues.
Annan enjoys a
close relationship with Secretary of State Powell�
press reports note the two men speak on the phone
weekly�and has met often with President Bush.
In Iraq, the Secretary General is committed to
giving the UN a meaningful role in postwar
reconstruction. However, he wants to do so under
what he views as more acceptable terms�he wants
the division of labor between the UN and the
Coalition clarified so that the UN would be seen as
an independent authority in Iraq.
Annan continues to rule out supporting a UN-
commanded peacekeeping force for Iraq because he
believes the Coalition is responsible for providing
security as the "occupying force." Nonetheless, the
deteriorating security situation in Iraq�especially
after a second bomb attack against UN offices on
23 September 2003�has concerned Annan, and on
25 September he ordered a temporary drawdown of
UN personnel.
In Liberia, Annan strongly supports the new UN
peacekeeping mission and the simultaneous
establishment of a UN political role to guide Liberia
back to representative government. Annan had
pressed Washington hard to contribute substantially
to the multinational force and may be disappointed
with the size of the US military commitment.
However, his appointment of a US citizen, a former
UN chief in Bosnia, as his special representative in
Liberia shows he Wants to continue working closel
with the United States to stabilize Liberia.
Career and Personal Data
The Secretary General began his UN career at the
WHO. He then served a six-year stint (1965-71) as
personnel chief at the UN's Economic Commission
in Addis Ababa. Annan left the UN in 1971 to earn
a master's degree in management at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He returned
to the UN a year later and served in posts in New
York, Egypt, and Geneva. Annan returned to Ghana
in 1974 to manage the Ghana Tourist Development
Company. Displeased with the military government
then in control in Ghana, he returned to the UN two
years later to work as a deputy chief in the Office of
Personnel Services. Annan then held a series of
positions of increasing responsibility within the�
bureaucracy, culminating in his appointment as
Under Secretary for Peacekeeping Operations in
1993. In that capacity he oversaw more than 50,000
troops and 13 missions, including Cambodia,
Somalia. the former Yugoslavia, and Rwanda.
Annan, the only son in a family of four siblings,
was born on 8 April 1938 near Kumasi, in southern
Ghana. According to a magazine interview in the
spring of 2003, Annan's twin sister died in 1995 �
from unknown causes; the fate of his two older
sisters is unknown. Annan's father, an executive .
with a multinational corporation, was also an
honorary chief of the Fante people, and through his
mother, Annan is heir to the chieftaincy of the
Akwamu�a native Ghanaian people. As a child,
Annan attended Ghana's oldest and most prestigious
boarding school for boys, Mfatsipim, where he won
acclaim as a track-and-field star. Annan studied at
the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi
(1958-59) before earning a degree in economics
from Macalester College in Minnesota in 1961. He
attended the Graduate Institute of International
Studies in Geneva in 1962.
The Secretary General reportedly enjoys hiking
and dancing. In recent years, he appeared once on
Sesame Street, resolving a conflict between the ,
Muppets. Annan has an adult daughter, Ama, and
an adult son, Kojo, from his first marriage. In 1984,
Annan married Nane Lagergren. (Mrs. Annan has
an adult daughter and a grandchild.) The Annans
have become fixtures in New York society and were
featured in the couples' issue of Vogue magazine in
February 2003. Annan speaks excellent English,
French, and several African languages, including
Twi and Fante.
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