Dubai: Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Murdoch University at the inauguration of its Sir Walter Murdoch lecture series last week.
Shaikh Nahyan who is also President of Zayed University (ZU), delivered the inaugural speech at the ZU Dubai campus. Shaikh Nahyan was honoured for his contributions to higher education and research in the UAE. Delivering the first talk of the Murdoch University Dubai Campus lecture series, Shaikh Nahyan based his address on the theme of one human family.
"The dream of most of the world's people is to have peace, stability, economic security, personal dignity, and a high quality of life. Our challenge today is how to achieve this dream, which seems far beyond the reach of most of our fellow global citizens," he said.
He urged the global community to work towards global peace and prosperity. Shaikh Nahyan listed climate change, an increasing divide between the rich and the poor, declining agricultural production and distrust between religions and cultures as humanity's current challenges.
"To combat these issues, I firmly believe education is the first step, but it's not sufficient," he said.
"We must rethink our ideas and attitudes to focus on reforming our societies, demanding excellence in education for all, eradicating poverty, improving global health, stabilising our economies and creating equal opportunities."
