Kofi Annan Quotes

Most organizations see young people as problems to be solved. We see young people as problem-solvers.

Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace.

It is easy to overlook the importance of the young in underdeveloped countries. It is the natural course for nations, and diplomats, and those who publish newspapers, to speak to the established order. Seeking out the young requires a conscious effort.

It is important how we view the youth of our nation. To simply consider them as new age voters will be a big mistake. They are the new age power.

I see the energy of young people as a real force for positive change.

We have to let young people know that we care about them and their future. I want to involve them to a level where they become the leaders and the advocates because, right now, a lot of these young people don't believe they have an advocate.

Our Party attaches great importance to the work with young people and firmly believes in them.

We should entrust our young people with a voice to express their views on what their futures should look like.

Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace. If, however, they are left on society's margins, all of us will be impoverished. Let us ensure that all young people have every opportunity to participate fully in the lives of their societies.

Today’s generation of young people holds more power than any generation before it to make a positive impact on the world.

Politicians, they give the visible aspect of the change, but the change, the root, the anchor are in young people.

There is a flickering spark in us all which, if struck at just the right age...can light the rest of our lives, elevating our ideals, deepening our tolerance, and sharpening our appetite for knowledge about the rest of the world. Educational and cultural exchanges...provide a perfect opportunity for this precious spark to grow, making us more sensitive and wiser international citizens through our careers.

Let us acknowledge and celebrate what youth can do to build a safer, more just world. Let us strengthen our efforts to include young people in policies, programmes and decision-making processes that benefit their futures and ours.

Youth is the ultimate limited resource.

I think being able to identify with young people and...their capacity to change the world and shake things up. I think that's the greatest strength.

The youth are the catalysts for real change.

The right way to begin is to pay attention to the young, and make them just as good as possible.

The more youth begin to recognize that they have a voice, the more change is possible.

The secret message communicated to most young people today by the society around them is that they are not needed, that the society will run itself quite nicely until they - at some distant point in the future - will take over the reigns. Yet the fact is that the society is not running itself nicely... because the rest of us need all the energy, brains, imagination and talent that young people can bring to bear down on our difficulties. For society to attempt to solve its desperate problems without the full participation of even very young people is imbecile.

I don't know about the world, but I know kids. And I feel like sometimes kids don't get involved because they think, what can I do? I'm just a kid. And really kids can do so much.

What I'd love to do is work with kids in the U.S. to raise their awareness and encourage them to be global citizens. We're all connected these days; we can listen to the same music as kids all around the world and share our ideas.

The unique instrument to eradicate poverty and usher in prosperity is our youth.

The young people of every nation are coming to resemble each other more and more, and are slowly becoming strangers to chauvinism and racism.

Doing and making positive programming for young people is so important to me, and I will keep doing it.

I have a thing about working with young people. I adore them.