From Kumasi to New York, the rise of young Kofi Annan (1 & 2)

Audio 49:00

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan at the National Forum in Europe.

Dublin Castle, October 14, 2004. Maxwells / Handout via REUTERS

By: Alain Foka Follow

50 mins

In 1972, multi-graduate, Kofi Annan began an irresistible rise within the United Nations.

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Post at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, then at the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF II) in Ismailia, Egypt, at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland, he arrived at the United Nations headquarters in New York, as Under-Secretary-General for Human Resources Management and United Nations Security Coordinator.

Step after step, the official climbs the administrative levels of Mount UN with discretion, until the Gulf War of 1990 when he finds himself on the front line and reveals his talents as a fine negotiator.

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