Madame Vice Chancellor,
And my friend Professor Holloway,
Esteemed members of the University of Edinburgh community, dear colleagues and friends,
I am truly honoured to be a member of this great university, one of the oldest in the world, with 439 years of history, which helped birth the Scottish Enlightenment.
I am so grateful to be here today, in this august institution, which was an academic training ground and home for such figures as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Alexander Graham Bell, Charles Darwin, a long list, including my very good friend, former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who told me that Edinburgh university is great, which I agree.
In the field of medicine alone, the university is known for its vast array of research, including on stem cells, genetics and cancer, and of course cloning – hello Dolly.
I know that along with the School of Health in Social Science, also graduating today are those from the School of Divinity and the School of Literature, Languages and Cultures.
I am so glad to be sharing this moment with you. A hearty congratulations to you and to your families, and also to your mentors and to the whole faculty and administration of the university.
I am also honored to share this moment with two distinguished personalities here, Professor Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch and Professor Anne Marie Rafferty.
I am truly proud to accept this honour, and I do so on behalf of my WHO colleagues, on behalf of nurses, and on behalf of midwives and other health workers around the world.
With our partners the Nursing Now campaign, the International Confederation of Midwives and the International Council of Nurses, we’ve made real progress in advocacy and action for strengthening nursing and midwifery, which is the backbone of our health system.
Their strength and dedication is unparalleled, as the world has seen during these past two and half years. Some of them, far too many, paid the ultimate price. We honour them.
That is why it is so important that we advocate for them, for good education, fair pay, safe and decent working conditions, and opportunities for advancement and leadership.
And of course, this pandemic is not over. I know you would like me to say a few words about it.
Since this novel virus first appeared and started to wreak havoc around the world, we have made real progress, developing vaccines, therapeutic and tests in record time.
We are pushing it back, but it is not done, and in fact far from it. We are seeing alarming increases in cases around the world.
We cannot let down our guard. We must be sure that not only do we hit the target of 70 percent vaccination, but most importantly, that all older people and other high risks groups, including health and care workers, are fully vaccinated.
For certain, we are far better off than we were. That is why we are here together today.
Because we have life-saving tools now, but we must use them correctly – so that everybody who needs them has access to them, no matter who they are or where they live.
Much of the world still has not been vaccinated, and we have a lot of work to do. Equity and solidarity are the only way we’ll bring this pandemic to a close.
And at the same time, the world is being confronted with extreme weather from climate change, widespread hunger verging on famine, and war in Ukraine which is threatening the world.
My colleagues and friends, dear graduates, make no mistake, you are graduating at a very difficult time in the world. And that is why it is so important that we address these shared global threats with a shared response.
And I will say it again: equity, and solidarity and humanity are the qualities that can get us through. And I hope that you will carry those values with you for the betterment of humanity.
For the graduates and the professors and the others here today, I ask you to come together and support us and your governments as we work to forge a new global compact. While fighting this pandemic, we need to prepare for the next one. And I hope you will give your support for the endorsement of a pandemic accord or a pandemic treaty, which will be a generational agreement that can safeguard our children and the children of our children.
Because this won’t be the last global health emergency.
And we can all take action now, from our own experience.
You see, I think that even the trauma of this pandemic has a good use.
Especially for those of you going into the health field, but for all of you who graduate and move to positions of authority and power in some form or another, take the lessons of this pandemic with you. You’re a living witness.
Remember what it felt like to be helpless and scared. And use those experiences to be a better health and care worker, or professor, or pastor, or a leader - whatever it is you do.
Remember that the people and the communities you are serving, or that you are working with, often have a lot to teach you. Learning from others is a gift.
So don’t stop listening and don’t learning. So even as you graduate today, your time as a student is not really over. Now, you’ve graduated from being a student in school to being a student in life.
My wish for you is that you continue to learn and grow and keep exploring throughout your careers and your lives.
Congratulations to everybody, and to all of your families, and your mentors.
One thing I can share. I’m a war child. My mother’s prayer was for me to survive just a day. And now I am the Director-General of WHO.
Anything is possible. Keep moving.
Thank you.