Former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan has died at age 80. Annan died in the early hours of Saturday in Switzerland after a short illness, according to a statement issued by his family and foundation.

The Ghanaian was the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006, and became the first black African man to take on the top job as the world’s top diplomat.

He was awarded the Nobel peace prize for his humanitarian work jointly with the UN as an organisation in 2001.

Annan’s foundation issued a statement today that described him as a “global statesman and deeply committed internationalist who fought throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world”.