Farah Mohamed, CEO of Malala Fund, an organization that works toward a world where every girl has the right to 12 years of free, safe, quality education, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD) at the Wednesday afternoon session of Western’s 311th Convocation.
Mohamed, MA’96, spoke to graduates from the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Law, urging them to pursue and contribute to the betterment of a world in which progress comes with a cost.
“Take it upon yourselves to help get the world back on track. If you’ve ever doubted your role and responsibility in the world, you are needed now more than ever. You are a generation with tools at your fingertips that no generation has had before,” said Mohamed, who created G(irls)20 to provide advice on female labour force participation to the G20 and Business20.
"As you transition to the real world, I ask that you be critical and cooperative, be bold and be brave, challenge rather than conform…and finally, be kind to one another" – Dr. Mohamed #purpleandproud
— #WesternU LIVE (@westernuLIVE) June 20, 2018
Progress in the world today, however, has come with a cost. Graduates increasingly run the risk of isolation and when we do not connect with other people, we see what divides us.
“We run the risk of seeing other people as our enemies. None of us want to live in that kind of world. Be critical and cooperative. Be bold and be brave. Challenge rather than conform. Be kind to one another.”