Kofi Annan quotes
1938 – 2018 · Ghana, 20th–21st century · Ghanaian diplomat and international civil servant
About Kofi Annan
Born 8 April 1938 in Kumasi (Gold Coast) and died 18 August 2018 in Bern, Kofi Atta Annan rose through the UN system to serve two terms as Secretary-General. He pushed UN reform, conflict prevention, and links between human rights, development and security, and shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.
Works: We the Peoples; In Larger Freedom; Interventions
Quotes
“We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race.”
Source: Simply Living: The Spirit of the Indigenous People, 1999 · Check the source
Disputed attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The wording appears in the 1999 book Simply Living: The Spirit of the Indigenous People and is widely attributed to Kofi Annan.
- What remains uncertain
- Attribution is disputed: the book provides a secondary quotation and no primary speech or official text by Annan has been confirmed.
This line insists that visible and cultural differences don’t make us separate peoples but affirm a shared human belonging and dignity. It echoes the UN-era rhetoric of a global leader who emphasized human rights and cooperation, arguing that diversity coexists with common basic values.