PARIS, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay on Saturday mourned the passing away of former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan, calling him "a great defender of peace and modern multilateralism".

"A great defender of peace, he was the very embodiment of peace and of a resolutely modern vision of the United Nations. His conviction that a culture of peace should be developed was fully in line with the mandate and daily commitment of UNESCO," Azoulay said in a statement.

Annan, who served as the seventh UN chief for almost ten years, died Saturday at a Swiss hospital. He was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2001, which he shared with the UN.

On Dec. 8, 1998, he took part in UNESCO's celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He recalled that "United Nations action on human rights is one and indivisible. 'All human rights for all' is our common goal." It is in this spirit that he has embarked on a vast reform of the United Nations, said the UNESCO chief.

"As we prepare to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, its committed vision of multilateralism and the central role of the United Nations remains as relevant as ever," Azoulay said.

Born in 1938 in Ghana, Annan served as the seventh UN Secretary-General from 1997 to 2006. He was the founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as chair of The Elders, an international organization founded by Nelson Mandela.