News Releases

Remembering Kofi Annan

18 August 2018

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria honors the memory and enormous contributions of Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Annan died in Switzerland on 18 August 2018.

No one contributed more to the creation and ongoing support of the Global Fund than Kofi Annan. He called on the international community to create our partnership in the early 2000s during his time as Secretary-General and made the first financial contribution to the Global Fund. He called the battle against AIDS his "personal priority." After his tenure, Annan continued to serve as a prominent advocate for the Global Fund, personally engaging in every Global Fund Replenishment.

In 2001, Annan was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his extraordinary contributions toward a more peaceful world, together with the entire United Nations. Until the time of his death, Kofi Annan worked tirelessly for the betterment of humanity.

Annan will be remembered as the man who ushered the United Nations to the 21st century, leading concerted efforts against poverty and diseases, as well as peacekeeping efforts. His leadership in the fight against HIV was visionary. Annan played a critically important role in the creation of the Global Fund at a time when HIV, tuberculosis and malaria appeared unstoppable. In the years since, programs supported by the Global Fund have saved more than 22 million lives. Beyond the many lives saved, the collective achievements of the Global Fund partnership encompass vibrant communities and thriving societies that can be attributed, in no small part, to Annan’s leadership.

With his role in the formation of the Millennium Development Goals, Annan embodied the ideals of global development community of constantly seeking greater stability and prosperity for the world. For these extraordinary contributions to the world, he epitomized the best of humanity. He will be remembered with great honor and affection by the Global Fund community and by millions of people around the world.