The KU Leuven and UCLouvain universities have on Friday awarded an honorary doctorate to the United Nations (UN). Secretary-General António Guterres came to receive the recognition in person.
The universities initially wanted to award the honorary doctorate personally to Guterres for his role within the organisation. However, the Portuguese insisted on awarding it to the entire UN, and not just to him. “That proves his modesty, his dedication to the UN and his leadership qualities,” declared KU Leuven rector Luc Sels.
Rector Sels and his UCLouvain colleague, Françoise Smets, honoured the UN for its fight against poverty, its work on sustainability, security, human rights and peace. They also gave Guterres credit for raising global financial issues within the UN, and for starting discussions around a permanent seat for African countries on the UN Security Council.
“We recognise, today more than ever, that a strong UN is needed to deliver on its mission”
Smets and Sels also criticised the current developments in the United States. “How is it possible that the world has been turned upside down in eight weeks? The disruptive and destabilising effect of the discourse and actions of the current US president cannot go unmentioned,” they said. “We recognise, today more than ever, that a strong UN is needed to deliver on its mission. This honorary doctorate is our modest contribution to that end.”
