Ex UN chief Kofi Annan dies at 80

The only black African who became UN secretary-general passed away peacefully on Saturday after a short illness (80-year-old

Ghana his home country, declared a week of national mourning. kofi annan was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work, He served two terms as UN chief from 1997 to 2006 and later served as the UN special envoy for Syria, leading efforts to find a solution to the conflict.

Kofi Annan Foundation described him as a "global statesman and deeply committed internationalist who fought throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world".

"Wherever there was suffering or need, he reached out and touched many people with his deep compassion and empathy."

He died at the hospital in the Swiss city of Bern. The career diplomat was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for helping to revitalize the international body, during a period that coincided with the Iraq War and the HIV/Aids pandemic

Kofi Annan acknowledged the UN's shortcomings, saying "it can be improved, it is not perfect but if it didn't exist you would have to create it". I am a stubborn optimist, I was born an optimist and will remain an optimist," he said.

Kofi Annan explained about his greatest achievement as the Millennium Development Goals which  for the first time set global targets on issues such as child mortality and poverty.

His critics blamed him for the UN's failure to halt the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s when he was head of the organization's peacekeeping operations and he was not immune from criticism.

Later, after the US-led invasion of Iraq, he and his son were accused of being involved in the "oil for food corruption scandal" that led some to call for his resignation, though he was later exonerated. He survived by Nane Annan , three children.