Mount Kenya University has reaffirmed its support towards a global campaign to eradicate poverty, hunger and protect the environment.
Dubbed “A World of Three Zeros” the campaign will target all its campuses as well as the communities living nearby.
Prof Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist and civil society leader said Corona pandemic has offered unparalleled opportunities on how to do things differently and get intended results.
“Coronavirus has changed the context and calculus of the whole world. It has opened up audacious possibilities which never existed before. Suddenly we can go any direction we want. What an unbelievable freedom of choice! No Going Back,” Yunus said.
He said global capitalism cannot establish the appropriate level of moral, social, and material balance in the world, particularly during the present times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He called for a fresh restart of the global economy saying, “The point of departure for the post-Corona reconstruction programme must be putting social and environmental consciousness firmly at the centre stage for all decision making. Governments must guarantee that not a single dollar would be offered to anyone unless the government is sure that it will bring the maximum social and environmental benefit to the society, compared to all other options.”
MKU Pro-Chancellor Dr Vincent Gaitho laid emphasis on Prof Yunus statement on whether the present economic system is able to establish an appropriate level of moral, social and material balance in the world, posing, “Is the present entrepreneur whose motivation is profit maximisation ready to transform towards social business who greatest return is solving human problems?”
Gaitho said global realities of climate change, pandemic and technology offer a window to examine more sustainable ways of sharing our only common heritage; the Earth saying, “It is time to rethink the dominant attitude of our times and embrace stewardship.”
“The disruption of global supply systems during COVID-19 Pandemic is a wakeup call for establishment of regional supply systems which may not only be participatory but sustainable,” he noted.
Dr Gaitho said the global meeting and its diversity confirmed that if we cared for each other, the world would be a better place to live in.
He said the three zero concept resonates well with the MKU new status as one of the global hubs for tackling social economic inequalities under the United Nations Academic Impact project.
“We need to rethink our systems. Climate change, the pandemic and changes in technology demand that we change our systems,” he added.
MKU Vice-Chancellor Prof Deogratius Jaganyi said as the global United Nations Academic Impact SDG 10 Hub on Reduced Inequalities.
“MKU is happy to be enjoined with Prof Muhammad Yunus and his global campaign for a world of three zeros, Zero Poverty, Zero Hunger and Zero Environmental Degradation,” he said.
MKU has already established a Yunus Social Business Centre in collaboration with Prof Yunus and his global Yunus Social Business Centre Network in achieving a world of three zeroes with Prof Jaganyi saying “Together we shall indeed create a world of 3 Zeros.”
The two were addressing the in-person/virtual Yunus Social Business Academic Conference and the Yunus Global Social Business Summit that attracted researchers, academics, and students from around the globe to discuss academic papers, practitioner cases, and concept notes on innovative ideas on issues related to social business.
The seminar was hosted by MKU’s School of Business and Economics and Graduate Enterprise Academy under the theme: “Planting the seeds towards a new economy.”