Kofi Annan Quotes

When I am asked, "What, in your view, is the worst human rights problem in the world today?" I reply: "Absolute poverty." This is not the answer most journalists expect. It is neither sexy nor legalistic. But it is true.

We all have the chance to create a world where extreme poverty is the exception rather than the rule.

For the first time in human history, society has the capacity, the knowledge and the resources to eradicate poverty

Ending extreme poverty is possible.

Extreme poverty anywhere is a threat to human security everywhere.

For half of the world's population, roughly three billion people around the world living on less than two dollars a day, an election is at best a means, not an end; a starting point, not deliverance. These people are looking less for an "electocracy" than for the basic elements that for most of us define a decent life--food, shelter, electricity, basic health care, education for their children, and the ability to make their way through life without having to endure corruption, violence, or arbitrary power.

Th direct elimination of elimination of poverty should be the objective of all development aid. Development should be viewed as a human rights issue, not as a question of simply increasing the gross national product (GNP).

Severe poverty is getting better by some measures, but it's also becoming ever more scandalous because it is now so easily avoidable.

Can we not wage a war and emerge victorious against poverty. Let us defeat poverty.

We believe that poverty does not belong in a civilized human society. It belongs in museums [...] A poverty-free world might not be perfect, but it would be the best approximation of the ideal.

Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.

This is the first generation in all of recorded history that can do something about the scourge of poverty. We have the means to do it. We can banish hunger from the face of the earth.

Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice... Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.

Poverty is a plague against which humanity must fight without cease.

You can't tackle climate change until you tackle poverty.

Do we have the will to make poverty history?

Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice.

Poverty is the frontier we have to be able to cross.

Poverty must be reduced not only for reasons of moral and justice, but also of security.

I would like to solemnly reaffirm, that poverty is not a fatality.

I want to eradicate poverty. I think that there's a tremendous passion for that inside the World Bank.

Destroy poverty, that source of crime, by assuring to each the satisfaction of all needs! And how difficult is this to achieve?

Prohibiting Poverty

We must focus on our biggest enemy, poverty. There is no single-state solution to it, and that is a noble goal.

Will we make all poverty history? No. But can we solve some of these extreme and egregious forms of poverty? I think yes, and we should.