Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has died at the age of 80, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration.
According to reports, Kofi Annan died in hospital in Bern, Switzerland.
Ghana declares week of mourning after death of Kofi Annan.
Annan was born in Ghana in 1938. He graduated from the Kumasi University of Science and Technology, and then went on to study in the US at McAlester College in St. Paul.
In 1972, he received a master's degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
According to the information provided on the UN website, K. Annan joined the organization in 1961 and was engaged in administrative and budgetary matters of the World Health Organization in Geneva.
In the early 1990s, he took the post of Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations, and then became Deputy Secretary General of the organization.
In 2011, Annan served as special envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States for Syria.
Tributes have been pouring in from across the globe over the death of Kofi Annan.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has expressed regret over the passing away of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, emphasizing his contributions to the UN.
"In many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations. He rose through the ranks to lead the organization into the new millennium with matchless dignity and determination," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
The Elders is an international non-governmental organization of public figures noted as elder statesmen, peace activists, and human rights advocates.
Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has expressed his condolences on Twitter.