 Graduates, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I'm honored to be here with you today at your graduation from one of the finest universities in the world focusing on Asia, Africa and Middle East. In my capacity as president of Sours University of London, it is my pleasure to welcome you and our graduates, families, friends and supporters to this occasion of celebration. Sours offers a rare opportunity for students and academic staff to experience on a daily basis interaction and exposure to what I dare call a microcosm of the world. You will hardly find another place that brings together knowledge from Asia, Africa and Middle East and where rich diversity of cultures and backgrounds, learning, discovery and critical thinking are nurtured and enhanced. What makes Sours special is its global perspective. We have been blessed with an exceptional education. I urge you to use it wisely and apply the learnings you gained here to your personal life and to your workplace in your communities and in your countries to make a difference. As Sours completes its 100th session, please ask yourself, Sours graduates, what world do you want to create and leave behind for the next 100 years? Our hand-based anniversary is a time for self-reflection for all and the people impacted by our school, our alumna, our students, our faculty and staff and our whole community. It's an opportunity to realign the purpose of the school, so it responds to the challenges of today and what is the future impact Sours can make in the next century. It is also for our 100 years, Sours has made a tremendous impact on the lives of those who have looked through its doors and many have achieved positions of power and influence in their respective countries and regions. Over those 100 years, Sours has a history of reinventing itself and adapting to a changing world. Our existing students are already making their own mark. I'm impressed that there is going on an initiative to decolonize the Sours curriculum, which will shape many more Sours generations to come. It is a golden opportunity to look at the footprint Sours has made in the past and how it was possible and how we use the big intellectual capacity of our community in the centennial to do more, to do better and eventually to do differently. You students, graduates, you are the last crop of the 100 years. You are the bridge to the future generations of the next 100 years. As you go out and make your mark on the world, please reflect and be critical of what the next centennial history of Sours could be. Over time, regions of Sours focus, namely Asia, Africa and the Middle East, have been confronted with conflicts fueled by political, religious, ethnic intolerance, inequality, and competition over resources. Some of you may be aware that the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon and the President of International Committee for Red Cross, Peter Mauer, have used an unprecedented joint warning about the impact of today's conflicts on civilians and appealed for urgent and concrete action to address human suffering and insecurity. Rarely before have we written so many people on the move, so much instability, so much suffering. In armed conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, to name a few, combatants are defying humanity's most fundamental norms. Every day, we hear of civilians being killed and wounded in violations of the basic rules of international humanitarian law and with total impunity. Instability is spreading, suffering is growing. No country can remain untouched. I have experienced personally the cost of war in my own country and in the countries I visited in every corner of the world as I was working on the impact of armed conflict on children report, which I submitted to the UN Secretary General in 1996. Because of these conflicts is unprecedented. We know that we cannot stop conflicts without unless we eliminate the legal and illegal chains of production and manufacturing of arms, their commercialization and sales, their storage, their utilization. Graduates of 2016, this will perhaps one amongst the biggest challenges of your generation. But it can be done. The landmines campaign proved what people's led movement can achieve. I was part of that effort. So I challenge you to be the generation to stop the chain of arming for war and instead use the resources we have for education, for health, for food production, for protecting people and the planet. It is my hope that you young people will raise to this challenge with creativity, resolve and generosity. You will make politics about people again. Use your knowledge to break the cycle of violence and create a movement where as human we value respect and accept difference and diversity as our common strength. This way we nurture and live in peaceful and cohesive societies where social justice prevails. As you begin to create your own path in life, it will be you that will carry forward the hope of a better world. The sustainable development goals set out states that between now and 2030, to end poverty and hunger everywhere, to combat inequalities within and among countries, to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies, to protect human rights and promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. And to ensure that lasting protection of the planet and its natural resources. It also resolved to create conditions for sustainable, inclusive and sustained economic growth, shared prosperity and the decent work for all, taking into account different levels of national development and capacities. I challenge you to offer the knowledge and skills that you have gained and developed here at SOAS and embrace the sustainable development goals. I challenge you to make this your historical responsibility. Make this happen in your lifetime. At every step of your way, ask yourself what you can do more, do better and do differently. As humans, we are able to influence our personal transformation as well as the transformation of the society we want. We are only limited by our own imagination. Before I conclude, I'd like to leave you with some advice that I have shared with other SOAS graduates. One, inform yourself at all times. Expand your knowledge constantly to sharpen the tools you need to serve society. Two, do everything within your power to reach out and work with others to provide a life of dignity for all. Three, be prepared to have setbacks and sometimes make mistakes since we all inevitably do so. What is important is what we learn from them. After a setback, pick yourself up and keep your determination to pursue your purpose. You are much, much stronger than you can think. Four, take care of your family and friends. They will sustain you through difficult times and celebrate with you your successes. Congratulations to each and every one of our graduates. You will always be part of SOAS and SOAS will always be part of you. Thank you.