With Values Strained by Lack of Leadership, World Needs Visionary Leaders Like Kofi Annan, Deputy Secretary-General Says at Tribute Dinner
Following are UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina J. Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, in tribute to Kofi Annan at the United Nations Foundation global leadership dinner, in New York today:
It’s impossible to watch a tribute to Kofi Annan and not be greatly moved. Kofi was something to everyone here. For some he was a colleague, for some a mentor, for others a friend. For me he was my touchstone. And for his beloved family, he was a devoted husband to Nane and father Kojo, Ama and Nina and grandfather to their kids.
For all of us who believe in affirming the power of our common humanity, he was an inspiration.
Tonight, in Kofi we honour his courage to take on big challenges and stand up for what is right; his compassion for the vulnerable; his humility — facing failure and learning from it; his commitment to peace was life‑long, ending in Myanmar and Zimbabwe; and his enduring conviction in the dignity of every person and in the value and power of collective action.
As Secretary-General António Guterres said: “Kofi Annan was the United Nations — and the United Nations was Kofi Annan.”
Tonight is about celebrating global leadership; a moment to reflect on what made Kofi such an inspiration and guiding light. We need more leaders like Kofi Annan.
Sadly, today, we find our core values and foundation under threat strained by the crisis of inequality, lack visionary leadership, which is making populations nervous and causing instability, extremism, intolerance, all exacerbating mental health, a growing phenomenon in every community.
And yet, the UN — Kofi’s home for over 40 years — coming out of the General Assembly with over 130 Heads of State and Governments, continues to give hope to a better future leaving no one behind. In the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and the Paris Agreement on climate change, a global town hall and voice for citizens and changemakers, like the people we’ve heard from tonight — peacekeepers, journalists and young people who remind us that we can all make a difference little by little.
Let me reflect on three lessons amongst many that Kofi left us through today’s challenges. First, Kofi Annan taught us to stand up, not stand by. He understood the connectedness of our world, and his strong moral compass guided us to focus on the needs of the most vulnerable.
He understood the relationship between peace, security, and development to the point where the 2030 Agenda is the legitimate heir of these prior steps and proves today the relevance of Kofi’s vision. That is how he sowed the seeds of the new human rights system, with the Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court and the Human Rights Council.
The world’s problems were his problems, both because he understood the interdependency of the world, and because his strong convictions refused to allow him look away from suffering. It’s why he travelled the world, meeting not just with Heads of State, but everyday people.
The second lesson from Kofi is: Don’t shy away from big problems. Kofi took action — ambitious at that time, even when he wasn’t guaranteed success. He launched the Millennium Development Goals as a catalyst for action to tackle extreme poverty; took on the fight against HIV/AIDS; opened the doors of the United Nations to partnership through the United Nations Global Compact and efforts like the United Nations Foundation.
Thirdly, Kofi taught us to be humble, resolute and accept failure as an opportunity to learn. In closing, courage was a hallmark of Kofi Annan; it is also a hallmark of the other great man we celebrate here tonight, Ted Turner. Twenty years ago, Kofi and Ted embarked on an ambitious experiment through the United Nations Foundation to connect new people, ideas and energy to the United Nations.
They devoted their lives to empowering more people to join them in boldly acting for a better world. Now, it’s our turn to pick up the gauntlet. We can choose a path of complacency and isolation that leads us nowhere. Or we can choose a path of courage and solidarity, leading us to a world where no one is left behind.
Kofi spent his life working for humanity. The best way we can honour him today is to take up that torch that he passed — and not just talk about it, but act on it like other great leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Winne Mandela, Aretha Franklin, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. As he bade us farewell all too soon, I listen in the silence of my grief and hear his words: “I yield my place to others with an obstinate feeling, a real obstinate feeling of hope for our common future.”