Kofi Annan: the Loss of a Peace Icon

23 August 2018 News

It is with great sadness that we have received the news of the passing of Mr Kofi Annan, former secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Mr Kofi Annan was a strong supporter of conflict prevention and his vision to promote a more open multilateralism with the active participation of civil society in prevention and peacebuilding inspired the creation of GPPAC.

We remember that Kofi Annan's chairmanship at the United Nations meant so much for strengthening peace in different parts of the world. We also remember that it was his leadership that gave life to a network of thousands of peacebuilders, who jointly struggle for peace and the eradication of armed conflict worldwide.

In his 2001 Report on the Prevention of Armed Conflict, then-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged

"NGOs with an interest in conflict prevention to organise an international conference of local, national and international NGOs on their role in conflict prevention and future interaction with the United Nations in this field."

In response, the European Centre for Conflict Prevention (ECCP) - which later became the GPPAC Global Secretariat - took up the duty and, together with partners, brought together a great network of civil society worldwide. From that, GPPAC was officially launched.

Mr Kofi Annan's leadership and passion will be missed. A great loss for peacebuilders around the world.