UniSA has paid tribute to the Secretary General of Amnesty International,
Dr Kumi Naidoo, during a visit to Adelaide by conferring him an Honorary Doctor in recognition of his commit-ment to social justice.
The award was presented at the Hawke Centre’s Amnesty International Oration – Human Rights in a Time of Tolerance and Hate, held at the Adelaide Convention Centre in June.
UniSA Chancellor Pauline Carr said she was proud to present the award to a man who has made an active commitment to justice from a very early age.
“It is not every 15-year-old that is willing to get expelled from high school because of the passion of his beliefs, but growing up in South Africa during apartheid, Kumi felt compelled to protest injustice, to organise rallies and engage in civil disobedience – and he got expelled,” Carr says.
He was also arrested, forced to live underground and eventually continue his education in exile in the UK where he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University where he studied for his PhD in political sociology.
Dr Naidoo has gone on to hold many international leadership roles – chair of the Global Call for Climate Action, Founding Chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, Co-founder of Africans Rising for Justice, Peace and Dignity and Executive Director of Greenpeace International.