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How we work for peace and how you can support us

This year we mark the tenth anniversary of the Kofi Annan Foundation, which I founded after I stepped down as Secretary General of the United Nations. Through the Foundation I have continued to work for peace, development and human rights, the principles and causes that I championed during my tenure as Secretary General…

Overview

What if world peace were not an illusion but an achievable objective? What if the barriers to peace had been identified and citizens, governments and corporations could join forces to break them down? We have identified five major barriers on the road to peace and are calling on your support to help us break them down…

World Map

Activities 2017

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    World Map
  • United States
    Mediation & Crisis Resolution

    Mr. Annan briefed members of the UN Security Council on the final report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State and advised as to how multilateral efforts could support the implementation of its recommendations.

    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Extremely Together Young Leaders advocated for youth-led CVE at UNGA side events in New York.
    Mr. Annan briefed members of the UN Security Council on the final report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State and advised as to how multilateral efforts could support the implementation of its recommendations.

  • United Kingdom
    Electoral Integrity

    The Electoral Integrity Initiative launched its fourth policy brief, entitled Elections and 
    Peacebuilding
    at Chatham House in London.

    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Extremely Together’s Fatima Zaman works to research and advise on counter-extremism policy. Together with Bjørn Ihler from Norway, she led a series of ‘Extremely Together roadshows’ in UK schools in order to train young people in CVE.

  • Myanmar
    Mediation & Crisis Resolution

    The Advisory Commission on Rakhine State completed its mandate and produced a series of recommendations to achieve lasting peace in Rakhine State.

  • Bangladesh
    Mediation & Crisis Resolution

    Members of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine travelled to Cox’s Bazaar to meet with and consult local officials and communities displaced from Myanmar.

  • Thailand
    Mediation & Crisis Resolution

    A delegation of the Advisory Commission travelled to Bangkok to discuss regional implications of the situation in Rakhine State with Thai officials.

  • Cameroon
    Supporting Elections and Democracy

    The Foundation organised a “dialogue participatif” between electoral stakeholders, the main political parties, the election commission and the diplomatic community to agree on the key challenges ahead of the 2018 elections.

  • Malaysia
    Supporting Elections and Democracy

    The Foundation convened electoral stakeholders from 10 countries in Asia for a conference entitled Democracy in Southeast Asia, facilitating an exchange of views on improving electoral integrity in the region.

  • The Philippines
    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Extremely Together’s Arizza Nocum strives to promote education and interfaith dialogue to prevent extremism.

  • Pakistan
    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Extremely Together’s Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi focuses on the role of civil society to counter extremism.

  • Morocco
    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Exploratory visit and mapping of existing CVE initiatives ahead of the organization of a series of training sessions on CVE targeting young Moroccans.

  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
    Peace & Trust

    A case study of the country’s reconciliation experience was conducted as part of the Foundation’s Transitions to Peace programme.

  • South Africa
    Peace & Trust

    A case study of the country’s reconciliation experience was conducted as part of the Foundation’s Transitions to Peace programme.

  • United Arab Emirates
    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Syrian refugee and Extremely Together young leader Zaid Al Rayes aims to create economic opportunities for vulnerable youth to show alternatives to violent extremism.

  • Libya
    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Extremely Together young leader Hajer Sharief works to engage women and young people in peace building.

  • Somalia
    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Extremely Together young leader Ilwad Elman works to deradicalise members of Al Shabaab and promote gender equality in Africa.

  • Uganda
    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Extremely Together’s Ndugwa Hassan works to train teachers, Imams and young people in countering violent extremism.

  • Nigeria
    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Extremely Together’s Jonah Obajeun advocates for education-based solutions to prevent radicalisation and extremism.

  • West African Region
    Changing Drug Policy

    With our partners, we are promoting evidence-based drug policy reform in West Africa. We are advocating for the transformation of African agriculture and food systems in order to improve food and nutrition security.

    We are mobilising leadership for climate change mitigation and adaptation both globally and in Africa.

  • The Netherlands
    Combatting Hunger

    The Foundation co-organised a meeting with the International Potato Center to promote orange-fleshed sweet potato as a crop to combat malnutrition.
    Mr. Annan delivered the keynote speech on food security, water and energy at the Making Waves Conference.

  • France
    Combatting Hunger

    Mr. Annan participated in the One Planet Summit in Paris and met with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, to discuss climate action.

  • Belgium
    Promoting Youth Leadership

    The Extremely Together toolkit and online platform were launched in Brussels in March 2017 at a conference, hosted by the European Commission, on the role of youth in countering violent extremism.

  • Switzerland
    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Bjørn Ihler from Norway and Fatima Zaman from the UK were invited as keynote speakers at the Caux Forum in Switzerland.

  • Greece
    Supporting Elections and Democracy

    Kofi Annan opened the Athens Democracy Forum with a keynote address promoting the priorities and messages of the Foundation’s Electoral Integrity Initiative.

  • Germany
    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Extremely Together’s Mimoun Berrissoun works to engage with young people affected by extremism.
    Hassan Ndugwa from Uganda joined Mimoun in Cologne in order to raise young people’s awareness of the threat of violent extremism through a series of inspirational talks and a football tournament under the theme “Kick it against Hate”.
    Extremely Together’s Countering Violent Extremism guide and accompanying year-long outreach campaign won the 2017 Digital Communication Award in Berlin.

  • Italy
    Combatting Hunger

    Mr. Annan joined over 250 stakeholders at the Global Nutrition Summit in Milan to accelerate the global response to end malnutrition.

  • Norway
    Extremely Together

    Extremely Together’s Bjørn Ihler seeks creative ways to counter extreme right wing narratives.

  • Northern Ireland
    Peace & Trust

    A case study of the country’s reconciliation experience was conducted as part of the Foundation’s Transitions to Peace programme.

  • United Kingdom
    Electoral Integrity

    The Electoral Integrity Initiative launched its fourth policy brief, entitled Elections and 
    Peacebuilding
    at Chatham House in London.

    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Extremely Together’s Fatima Zaman works to research and advise on counter-extremism policy. Together with Bjørn Ihler from Norway, she led a series of ‘Extremely Together roadshows’ in UK schools in order to train young people in CVE.

  • Guatemala
    Peace & Trust

    A case study of the country’s reconciliation experience was conducted as part of the Foundation’s Transitions to Peace programme.

  • Colombia
    Peace & Trust

    The Foundation brought together experts, policy-makers and practitioners in a high-level symposium on reconciliation convened by Mr. Annan in Bogota.

    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Extremely Together Young Leaders inspired others to join the Extremely Together movement at the One Young World Summit in Bogota.

  • Mexico
    Supporting Elections and Democracy

    The Foundation’s Electoral Integrity Initiative, in association with six partners from Mexico and the region, hosted a conference on Electoral Integrity in Latin America.

  • Colombia
    Peace & Trust

    The Foundation brought together experts, policy-makers and practitioners in a high-level symposium on reconciliation convened by Mr. Annan in Bogota.

    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Extremely Together Young Leaders inspired others to join the Extremely Together movement at the One Young World Summit in Bogota.

  • United States
    Mediation & Crisis Resolution

    Mr. Annan briefed members of the UN Security Council on the final report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State and advised as to how multilateral efforts could support the implementation of its recommendations.

    Promoting Youth Leadership

    Extremely Together Young Leaders advocated for youth-led CVE at UNGA side events in New York.
    Mr. Annan briefed members of the UN Security Council on the final report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State and advised as to how multilateral efforts could support the implementation of its recommendations.

Make a selection
Select a country and project to view details.

Supporting Democracy and Elections with Integrity

Electoral Integrity

Through its Electoral Integrity Initiative , the Kofi Annan Foundation advises countries on how to strengthen the integrity and legitimacy of their electoral processes and avoid election-related violence, so that elected officials can govern peaceably in a climate of trust.

Transitions to Peace

A threat to peace:

  • 1 in 4 people live in countries affected by conflict or very high levels of criminal violence.
  • The past two years have seen the highest number of global battle deaths for 25 years, record levels of terrorism and the highest number of refugees and displaced people since World War II.

Extremely Together

Violent extremism is a serious threat to our societies and to young people in particular. Extremely Together is our youth leadership initiative. It unites 10 Young Leaders, all active in countering violent extremism in their communities and beyond.

Combatting Hunger

A threat to peace:

  • Africa remains the region with the highest level of undernourishment: 20 percent of Africans do not have enough food to feed themselves and their families.
  • Malnourishment stunts the growth of many young Africans.
  • By threatening food production, climate change could increase hunger and malnutrition by up to 20 percent by 2050.

Changing Drug Policy

A threat to peace:

  • In West Africa, the drug trade undermines development and fosters corruption.
  • Africa’s drug laws are outdated and have not equipped the continent with effective responses to drug problems.

Mediation and Crisis resolution

The Advisory Commission on Rakhine State (September 2016 – September 2017) was established as a joint initiative between the Government of Myanmar and the Kofi Annan Foundation. Its mandate was to propose concrete measures for improving the welfare of all people in Myanmar’s eastern Rakhine State, home of a Buddhist majority and a Muslim minority including those self-identifying as Rohingya. The Advisory Commission was composed of six local and three international experts, and was chaired by Kofi Annan.

The Foundation BoardStaff

Kofi Annan

Ghana

Founder and Chair, Nobel Peace Laureate and Former Secretary General of the United Nations.

Diego Hidalgo

Spain

Founder and Honorary President of FRIDE, Founder of the Club of Madrid and President of DARA.

Elisabeth Lindenmayer

France

Director of the United Nations Studies Programme at Columbia University’s School of International Public Affairs.

Carlos Lopes

Guinea-Bissau

Chairman of the Audit and Finance Committee, Visiting Fellow at the Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice, University of Cape Town, South Africa; former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Thoraya Obaid

Saudi Arabia

Former Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund and former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations (2000-2010); Member of the Saudi Shura.

Oluseye Oduyemi

Nigeria

Former Director of Management, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Jenö Staehelin

Switzerland

Former Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York (2002-2004); former Permanent Observer of Switzerland to the United Nations (1997-2002).

  • Alan Doss

    President
  • Kelcey Armstrong-Walenczak

    Associate Communications Officer
  • Sébastien Brack

    Senior Political Officer
  • Bijan Frederic Farnoudi

    Head of Communications
  • Maud Roure

    Programme Manager
  • Abdelmadjid Haddad

    Logistics and General Support
  • Michaelene Kinnersley

    Head of Partnerships
  • Michal Khan

    External Relations Assistant
  • Fabian Lange

    Project Coordinator
  • Li Ling Low

    Head of Finance and Administration
  • Natalie McDonnell

    Executive Assistant
  • Declan O’Brien

    Project Coordinator
  • Stephanie Lewis

    Travel Coordinator, Administrative Assistant
  • Orla Vandepoortale

    Administrative Assistant
  • Tesfai Tecle

    Senior Advisor on Food Security

FundersPartners

We are a not-for-profit organisation and depend on grants and philanthropic gifts. The Foundation is grateful to all the individuals, organisations and governments whose financial support in 2017 made its work possible. We thank our funding partners for their commitment to creating fairer, more peaceful and prosperous communities.

 

Amersi FoundationBill & Melinda Gates FoundationDanish International Development AgencyEuropean CommissionFinnish GovernmentMAP (Macro Advisory Partner)Mo Ibrahim FoundationOne Young WorldWorld Bank GroupGovernment of SwitzerlandEmbassy of NetherlandsNorwegian Ministry of Foreign AffairsOpen Society FoundationsPSFSkoll FoundationSwedish PostcodeRobert Bosch Stiftung

 

The Foundation depends heavily on its professional relationships and partnerships for much of its effectiveness. Its achievements in 2017 would not have been possible without the technical support provided by the following partners:

 

The Carter CenterThe EldersGlobal Commission on Drug PolicyGraduate Institute GenevaICTJIDPCIFESIDEAInterpeaceJCINDIUnited Nations FoundationWFP

 

Financial Year Ended 31 December 2017 Expenses

2017 Finances

  • 34% | CHF 1,234 000Mediation and Crisis Resolution -
    Advisory Commission on Rakhine State
  • 27% | CHF 961 000Supporting Democracy and Elections with Integrity
  • 10% | CHF 368 000Promoting Youth Leadership -
    Extremely Together
  • 10% | CHF 364 000Combatting Hunger
  • 9% | CHF 328 000 Transitions to Peace
  • 8% | CHF 282 000Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation
  • 1% | CHF 38 000Changing Drug Policy
  • Total : CHF 3,575 000

Funding our work with your philanthropic gifts and grants

The Kofi Annan Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit organisation under Swiss law which is funded by a mix of public and private donors. None of our income is guaranteed and without financial contributions from individuals, foundations, governments and other institutions, we cannot carry out our work.

We actively seek support from individuals and organisations who share our values and aims and who wish to help finance our work.

Do you want to establish a long-term relationship with the Kofi Annan Foundation?
Do you have a committed interest in a specific issue that the Foundation addresses?
Do you want to support a specific activity of the Foundation?
Do you seek ways to back urgent responses to unforeseen threats to peace and security?

Please get in touch.
Kofi Annan Foundation
P.O.B. 157 • 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland
T +41 22 919 7520 • F +41 22 919 7529
info@kofiannanfoundation.org