Geneva celebrates Kofi Annan’s 82nd birthday

The Geneva Airport International on Wednesday marked the 82nd birthday of Mr Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, with dedication and renaming of its protocol lounge as "Espace Kofi Annan."

The Kofi Annan Foundation and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, through its mission to international organisations, have partnered with the Geneva Airport International to pay tribute to Kofi Annan, a man who worked to make the multilateral system stronger, more effective and open to collaboration with the various sectors of society.

This gesture honours a man who unceasingly fought for international cooperation to tackle global challenges, something which has never been more relevant than today, given the global crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic, a statement by Geneva Airport International and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said on Wednesday.

The statement said at a time when the world was facing unprecedented threats and disruptions due to the COVID-19, we recall Kofi Annan's ever-important words that “it makes sense that we all come together to seek solutions that no one country, no matter how powerful, can hope to achieve alone. Global solidarity is both necessary and achievable.”

The statement said it was in working side by side with governments, the academic and research worlds, the private sector and civil society that the world would discover ways out of crises and develop solutions that can avert further ones.

"This working together, for the good of all, corresponds with the vision that Mr Annan was able to infuse into multilateral action," Ambassador Valentin Zellweger, the Head of the Swiss Mission to the United Nations, was quoted as saying.

"The Airport is the gateway to International Geneva and an important asset for the centre of global governance, which needs air links to the whole world. It is no coincidence that the Airport's 100th anniversary coincides with the 100th anniversary of multilateralism in Geneva," says Corine Moinat, Chair of the Board of Directors of Geneva Airport.

Nane Annan, member of the Board of Kofi Annan Foundation, said; "I am deeply moved that my late husband, Kofi Annan, is honoured in this way. Kofi believed that with goodwill and working together, nations can solve seemingly insurmountable problems”.

Kofi Annan, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, established the Foundation in Switzerland in 2007.

It is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that works to promote better global governance and strengthen the capacities of people and countries to achieve a fairer, more peaceful world.

The Foundation continues to monitor developments related to the unprecedented spread of the COVID-19.