2026 Kofi Annan Peace Adress
Speech by State Councillor Nicolas Walder at the 6th edition of the Kofi Annan Geneva Peace Address, marking the close of the inaugural Geneva Peace Forum
15 October 2026
"Mesdames et Messieurs, en vos titres et fonctions respectives,
C'est un honneur de vous accueillir ce soir pour la sixième édition de la Kofi Annan Geneva Peace Address.
Le canton et la Ville de Genève sont fiers de soutenir cet événement qui, au fil des années, est devenu un rendez-vous incontournable du calendrier genevois de la paix.
Tonight is a special evening. For the first time, the Kofi Annan Geneva Peace Address officially closes the Geneva Peace Forum – the new format of what many of us knew, for more than a decade, as the Geneva Peace Week.
Since Monday, here at the Geneva International Conference Centre, the key events dedicated to peace have come together under one single banner.
We have lived an inspiring week: high-level dialogues, Peace Talks, and in-depth conversations on the current challenges of peace mediation.
Tonight’s Peace Address could not be more timely. Violence has reached alarming levels. Extremism and hate speech are on the rise. Disinformation erodes trust between people and in institutions. And an unprecedented number of conflicts is affecting millions of women, men and children around the world.
Yet hope arises when extraordinary individuals choose to take risks for the sake of dignity, rights and the rule of law.
Tonight, we honour two of them.
Dr Denis Mukwege has devoted his life to caring for survivors of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and to advocating so that rape is no longer used as a weapon of war. And no longer goes unpunished. He has done so at great personal risk.
Dr Mukwege, your presence among us tonight is a great honour for Geneva.
And for the very first time, this evening will also honour a young laureate: the winner of the very first Kofi Annan Geneva Youth Peace Prize.
While keeping the surprise for a later stage of this ceremony, where the name of the Kofi Annan Youth prize will be revealed, let me just say that the path of this young individual is inspiring and will certainly pave the way for future youth candidates willing to improve the lives of their communities. Tonight, the first winner of the Kofi Annan Geneva Youth Peace Prize will follow in the footsteps of Dr Mukwege.
Both have answered violence by standing with those who endured it, and by helping them reclaim their voice.
Let me take this opportunity to congratulate the organisers of this youth peace prize, namely the Kofi Annan Foundation, the Geneva Peace building plateform and the Graduate institute. With this prize, which honours young peace activist, you illustrate to the wider community that demonstrating courage to fight for the rights of those in need is never vain, but a a powerful testimony to the relevance of peacebuilding.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Geneva is proud to honour these 2 laureates, because they embody our canton’s DNA.
For more than 160 years, since the birth of the modern humanitarian movement, Geneva has been a place where the work of peace takes practical form, through institutions, mediation, humanitarian action, human rights and sustained engagement.
At the heart of this tradition lies a simple but demanding conviction : that it matters to bring different actors and perspectives together in one place. Diplomats and civil society. Researchers and humanitarians. Survivors and decision-makers. The young and the experienced.
At a time of growing global division, this capacity to convene, to keep doors open and people talking, is not a luxury. It is a necessity.
No one embodied this conviction better than Kofi Annan. He studied here as a young man, at the Graduate Institute, and later chose our city as his home and as the seat of his Foundation. His legacy lives on in spaces like this one, which bring people together around peace.
Kofi Annan also believed deeply in young people and in their power to shape our common future. He was convinced that peace is built when generations work side by side, each bringing its own strength.
Tonight's dialogue between Dr Mukwege and the youth laureat embodies precisely that conviction : two persons who, each in their own way, have placed dignity and justice at the heart of their lives' work.
The theme of tonight’s address is « Choose Peace ».
Our two laureates have made that choice, often against all odds.
May tonight inspire each of us to make it too, every day, within our own sphere of responsibility.
Thank you for your attention, and I wish you all an inspiring evening."
Only the spoken text shall prevail
Photo captions (in order of appearance): Dr Denis Mukwege; State Councillor Nicolas Walder; Maung Sawyeddollah, 2026 Kofi Annan Geneva Youth Peace Prize laureate; Katie Sams, Executive Director of the Kofi Annan Foundation; and Dr Annyssa Bellal, Executive Director of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform and Geneva Peace Forum.
© Antoine Tardy