On 18 October at the 2017 United Nations Global Leadership Dinner in New York (USA), His Highness the Aga Khan received the Champion for Global Change Award handed over by Kofi Annan, for his leadership in global health, education, and the refugee crisis through the Aga Khan Development Network, as well his extensive work with the United Nations. His Highness the Aga Khan said: "It is with all of these thoughts in mind that I say again how proud I am to be here to accept your award - recognizing how it reinforces not only the important “words” but also the useful concepts, and indeed the central “values”- that we - all of us - hold in common."