UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan honored by Rainbow/PUSH for peace efforts

Jet, July 8, 2002

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, whose efforts toward achieving world peace earned him the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize last year, was again recognized for his work when the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition recently presented him with a global unity award at its headquarters in Chicago.

Annan, who has been praised for his moral leadership and focus on conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, told a crowd of more than 500 gathered at the organization's South Side headquarters that the problems that plague the people of Africa, poverty, AIDS, conflict and intolerance, "concern us all--Africans, African-Americans, Americans, any citizens whatsoever."

"We live in a world marked by great progress in some areas and great failure in others," Annan said. "If we are going to build a successful world, we must bridge the gap between the rich and the poor."

A native of Ghana who has devoted almost his entire working life to the United Nations, Annan joined the UN in 1962 as an administrator with the World Health Organization in Geneva. In 1997 he became UN secretary-general--the first leader to be elected from the ranks of UN staff. Last year, he was unanimously re-elected to another five-year term (JET, Oct. 29, 2001).

The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Rainbow/PUSH founder, presented Annan with the organization's Unity Award for Outstanding Service and called Annan "our leader for the reconciliation of violence and world peace."