Geneva Airport has honoured former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, by dedicating its protocol lounge to him.
The protocol lounge at the airport will be renamed as Espace Kofi Annan and the official inauguration will take place as soon as measures to counter the pandemic takes force.
The United Nations at Switzerland announcing on its Twitter page said the gesture is to honour a man who unceasingly fought for international cooperation to tackle global challenges, something which has never been more relevant than today, given the global crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Celebrating the icon’s 82nd birthday yesterday, management of Geneva Airport said they remembered Kofi Annan more at the time the world is facing unprecedented threats and disruptions due to the novel coronavirus and recall some of the ever-important words he said when he was alive.
According to them, Kofi Annan used to say “It makes sense that we all come together to seek solutions that no one country, no matter how powerful, can hope to achieve alone. Global solidarity is both necessary and achievable.”
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The Kofi Annan Foundation and Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, through its mission to international organisations, partnered with Geneva Airport to pay tribute to Kofi Annan, describing him as “a man who worked to make the multilateral system stronger, more effective and open to collaboration with the various sectors of society.”
Head of the Swiss Mission to the United Nations, Ambassador Valentin Zellweger at the ceremony said Kofi Annan once said ‘each nation shares responsibility for security for the other’ and it is in working side by side with governments, academic and research world, private sector and civil society that the world will discover ways out of crisis and develop solutions that can avert further ones.
“This working together, for the good of all, corresponds with the vision that Mr Annan was able to infuse into multilateral action,” he said.
Moreover, he revealed that selected phrases from Kofi Annan and images will be used to decorate the protocol lounge and serve as an inspiration for others.
“Selected phrases from Kofi Annan’s speeches as well as images highlighting his work will make up the new decor of the protocol lounge, serving as a source of inspiration for world leaders who come to Geneva to negotiate at the United Nations and other international organisations,” he said.
Chair of the Board of Director of Geneva Airport, Corine Moinat also said “The airport is the gateway to International Geneva and an important asset for the centre of global governance, which needs air links to the whole world. It is no coincidence that the airport’s 100th anniversary coincides with the 100th anniversary of multilateralism in Geneva,”
Wife of Kofi Annan, who is also a member of the Kofi Annan Foundation Board, Nane Annan said “I am deeply moved that my late husband Kofi Annan is honoured in this way. Kofi believed that with goodwill and working together, nations can solve seemingly insurmountable problems. Such cooperation is needed now more than ever.”
The late Kofi Annan chose Geneva as a place to live after he left the United Nations and as a place to set up his Foundation in 2007. The Kofi Annan Foundation is an independent, non-for-profit organisation that works to promote better global governance and strengthen the capacities of people and countries to achieve a fairer, more peaceful world.
