HONOARY DOCTORS. Last Friday, Sahlgrenska Academy invited both staff and students to a seminar with our new honorary doctors Carl Bennet, Gunilla Backman and Denis Mukwege. The film of with the seminar is now available.
Here you can watch the recording of the seminar (in English):
Each of our three new honorary doctors gave short and inspiring talks during the seminar.
Industrialist Carl Bennet began by saying he felt very honored to be appointed an honorary doctor, especially in the company of Gunilla Backman and Denis Mukwege. Backman and Mukwege also acknowledged that they felt they were in good company as new honorary doctors at Sahlgrenska Academy. In his talk Carl Bennet then addressed the great global challenge posed by the climate change. To meet this threat, he believes Sweden should double its investment in research and development. In a humanitarian crisis, access to clean water is the first problem that needs to be solved, and Sweden, with its expertise in engineering and industry, has a lot to offer.
Gunilla Backman is actively involved in the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) as a senior advisor to Asia, the Middle East and North Africa on health and sexual and reproductive health and rights. During her talk she emphasized the great power inherent in human rights, but noted that human rights are given less and less room. She urged all of us to make sure that the principles of human rights are more than beautiful words on a sheet of paper in a desk drawer and that they must also be put into practice.
Dr Denis Mukwege, the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, cares for survivors of sexual violence through the Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In his talk, he urged Sweden to continue to stand up for human rights. He stressed the importance of making the men who committed serious crimes in his home country atone for their actions. Only when the perpetrators receive their rightful punishment can the country begin to heal. He highlighted Swedish women as pioneers for gender equality efforts, which he thinks is necessary to free all people from the toxic masculinity that leads to discrimination against women and sexist practices. He concluded his talk by saying, “Let us create a world where everyone can live as freely as they choose.”
TEXT AND PHOTO: ELIN LINDSTRÖM
FILM: MEDIETEKNIK
