The University of Pretoria has conferred an honorary degree to the director-general of the World Health Organization Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in recognition on his outstanding contribution as a global health expert. Picture: Thobile Mathonsi/African News Agency (ANA)
Pretoria - The cohort of graduates from the University of Pretoria's 2023 Autumn Graduation have been urged to keep listening, learning, and forever try to open new paths as they step into their future careers.
This as the university kicked off its Autumn graduation ceremonies last week Friday (April 19), to run until May 16, with 11 908 qualifications to be conferred.
Among them was Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), who was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university.
Ghebreyesus is known for his leadership of several international health initiatives that have ensured the foregrounding of critical health concerns on global development agendas.
He has also taken up roles such as being the Chair of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, while also championing country leadership as Chair of the Programme Coordinating Boards for UNAIDS.
Furthermore, he has elevated malaria development agendas through his leadership of the Roll Back Malaria partnership, and shone the spotlight on maternal, newborn and child health as co-chair of the Partnership of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.
In accepting his doctorate, Ghebreyesus said he, much like former statesman Nelson Mandela, valued education and believed that it was indeed the most powerful weapon one can use to change the world.
Growing up in Ethiopia and coming from a poor family, Ghebreyesus said he saw first-hand the effects of violence, poverty and disease in his community, and never believed he would end up being the Director General of a large organisation such as the WHO.
"I never expected it to happen because when I was a child my mother's only prayer was for me to survive a day. Making it to such a level made me understand that a better future is possible and in the meantime, one has to work hard as you never know when your chance to shine will come."
He urged graduates to remember that with challenges come opportunities, as taking on the leadership role within the WHO led him to face difficult challenges such as assisting with the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and with the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The only way to deal with extraordinary difficulties in both these instances for us as the WHO was to stay focused on the work, following the science, the evidence, and most importantly to keep people at the centre of their efforts throughout the pandemic.“
So when the challenges come as they always do one had to be prepared and ready.
"Continuous improvement is important, change as a constant simply means learning lessons by assessing where we have been and where we are going. Because at the core of our work is the belief that cooperation and solidarity can help us to reach the highest level of health for all people everywhere," he said.
Lastly, he appealed to graduates - whether they go into the public or private sector - to always put humanity first. He said the Covid-19 pandemic had not only demonstrated that nationalism and selfishness hindered progress.
"Covid showed us that health must be at the centre of all we do as we have now seen that health crises can affect societies' economies and stability because when health fails, everything can fail. As you graduate remember that we must put health and humanity first with solidarity and global cooperation."
"At the end of the day the world does not get better unless we work together to make it better. So throughout your careers keep listening, learning and trying. And in the words of Brenda Fassie's song -Pave the Way."
Pretoria News