CA honoured at Theirworld’s Annual Global Education Dinner

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus was honoured with the Unlock Big Change Award at Theirworld’s Annual Global Education Dinner on Monday (local time), during the United Nations General Assembly.

Hosted at a New York City hotel, the high-level event brought together global leaders, policymakers, and education advocates to spotlight the urgent need for inclusive, quality education for all children.

The award recognises Prof. Yunus’s groundbreaking work in microfinance and his unwavering commitment to education as a driver of social and economic change.

The dinner was co-hosted by Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education and former UK Prime Minister, and Sarah Brown, Chair of Theirworld and Executive Chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education.

In his speech, Gordon Brown praised Prof. Yunus as a visionary who has transformed millions of lives through financial empowerment.

“No project in the private sector has done more to lift people out of poverty in the past 50 years,” Brown said.

While UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi was also recognised, it was Prof. Yunus’s integration of education into microcredit initiatives that deeply resonated with attendees.

Accepting the award, Prof. Yunus described access to credit as a basic human right, equal to food, healthcare, and education.

“If you open the door to the financial system, nobody will be a poor person anymore,” he said. “We included education in our microcredit model and helped women ensure their children could go to school.”

He shared moving stories of women who used microloans to improve their families' lives and provide their children with education opportunities once out of reach.

Prof. Yunus also challenged conventional education models, calling for a shift towards entrepreneurial thinking and creativity from an early age.