Princess Zahra Aga Khan's speech at the 2025 AKU Convocation, Uganda

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

Chancellor, Chair, and members of the AKU Board of Trustees,
Chair and members of the AKU Uganda University Council,
President and Vice Chancellor,
Leaders, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends of the University,
Family members of the graduates,
And above all, members of the Class of 2024:

Throughout the past 40 years, AKU convocations have brought my father, our Founding Chancellor, immense joy and pride.

I’m sure we all feel the same profound sadness today at his loss, and yet this convocation remains an inspiring occasion.

It brings me much happiness that my brother, His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan, in accordance with my father’s wishes and the founding charter of AKU, has become Chancellor.

Therefore, on behalf of our new Chancellor and the Board of Trustees, I extend our heartfelt congratulations to the members of the Class of 2024. This is your day, and we celebrate all that you have worked so arduously to achieve. As no one can reach their full potential alone, I would also like to recognise the support of your families, friends, and classmates throughout your journey.

Every convocation is the closing of one chapter and the beginning of a promising new era. An important moment for reflecting on the past while looking at the future, and marking individual achievements and institutional milestones. This year’s convocation is especially meaningful as we honour the legacy of our Founding Chancellor’s visionary leadership, unwavering support, and great love for this University and its people.

I would like to express my gratitude at this moment:

• Gratitude for the privilege I have had to see our Founder’s vision of this University realised— at times astonishingly quickly.
• Gratitude for the honour to have been appointed to the Board of Trustees, working closely with and always learning from my father. I first accompanied him to AKU for a convocation in 1994, soon after I myself graduated. That was the beginning of my admiration for the promise and impact of this institution. Today is particularly special as I share this Convocation with my children, Sara and Iliyan.
• I am also deeply grateful for each member of the AKU community, past and present, for bringing my father’s institutions to life.

To the Government of Uganda, thank you for your longstanding confidence in our institution and its mission. I look forward to continued collaboration as AKU expands its campus and programmes in Kampala.

AKU’s Trustees have provided wise counsel to ensure the University maintains its values and clarity of mission as it evolves to meet future needs and opportunities. It has been a privilege to learn and work with them.

Our donors and volunteers have generously given their time, knowledge, skills, and resources in support of our founding vision, while meaningful partnerships with diverse local and global collaborators have enhanced AKU’s capacities.

The dedication and talent of AKU’s management, faculty and staff have inspired and supported thousands of students in the health sciences, teaching and school improvement, and media and communications.

Around the world, our alumni embody our Founding Chancellor’s aspiration for AKU graduates to be leaders and agents of change who will transform their professions, take on societal challenges, give excellent care to thousands of patients and uplift humanity.

To all of you, I say: thank you.

My father firmly believed in the capacity for human innovation, reflection, and adaptation. He believed in our collective ability to overcome global challenges by building a framework to nurture vibrant communities which encouraged individuals to reach their full potential. He believed that humanity had the ingenuity to improve the future of our planet. He believed in hope.

He believed that hope was infectious. He invested our potential through institutions like the Aga Khan University so that we can, in turn, uplift and instil hope in others.

The vision that my father laid out for this university, and indeed he insisted upon it, was for an “international institution of distinction— serving the developing world and Muslim societies in innovative and enduring ways”, one that would meet or surpass global standards of excellence in all its dimensions. In its faculty, staff, students; in its academic offerings and research programmes; in the quality of its services; and in the design of its campuses and facilities.

Our Founding Chancellor emphasised that “a distinguished university is not built in a decade, nor indeed in a generation.” That long-term approach and commitment to excellence are qualities shared by all the agencies of the wider Aga Khan Development Network. Through the AKDN, my father created and nurtured an astonishing number of institutions and programmes focused on strengthening human capabilities and well-being, building resilient communities, generating inclusive economic growth, honouring cultural heritage, and protecting the natural environment.

In the AKDN, education is the cornerstone and the key to improving quality of life. My father invested in quality education at all levels, from early childhood development to post-secondary studies. Not one, but two universities are the culmination of that critical element: AKU and the University of Central Asia.

Each convocation provides an opportunity to recommit to the vision of AKU and the wider mission to improve quality of life and build a more peaceful, pluralist and prosperous world. This year’s convocation has a special significance as you represent the last graduating class that studied under the wise and attentive leadership of our Founding Chancellor.

I share President Shahabuddin’s hope, the hope that is palpable in the room today, and the optimism that has been felt in every AKU convocation since 1983, and will, Insh’ Allah, be present for decades to come.

I see agents of change. Empathetic leaders. Innovators. Critical thinkers.

I see an impressive cadre of professionals whose knowledge and skills the world so urgently requires.

I see women and men who can navigate the complexity of the global landscape, individuals equipped to actively engage with diversity—that is, pluralism—and to draw upon human ingenuity wherever it is found to build a future in which we all can thrive.

Graduands, we have full faith that you will spread your hope through the world and step out into the world with confidence, curiosity and compassion, and that you will honour and sustain the guiding principles of our Founding Chancellor. We believe in you.

Thank you.