Address by President Nelson Mandela on Receiving and Honorary Doctorate from Harvard University

This may very well be our last official visit to the United States before
retiring from office next year. There could not been a more moving start to the
visit than one which included being honoured in this way by one of the great
educational institutions of this nation and of the world. I know that through
this award you are not so much recognising any individual achievement, but are
rather paying tribute to the struggles and achievements of the South African
people as a whole. I humbly accept the award in that spirit, while at the same
time wishing you to know that we are not unaware of nor unmoved by the great
compliment you pay us by conferring this degree at a specially convened
Convocation.

To join George Washington and Winston Chuchill as the other recipients of
such an award conferred at a specially convened Convocation, is not only a
singular honour. It also holds great symbolic significance: to the mind and to
the future memory of this great American institution, the name of an African is
now added to those two illustrious leaders of the Western world. If in these
latter years of a life lived in pursuit of equality, we can at last look upon
our own country as one in which citizens, regardless of race, gender or creed,
share equal political rights and opportunities for development, we do so with
great gratitude towards the millions upon millions all around the world who
materially and morally supported our struggle for freedom and justice. Together
with those freedom- and justice-loving citizens of the world, we do at the same
time, however, note that at the end of this century - a century which humanity
entered with such high hopes for progress - the world is still beset by great
disparities between the rich and the poor, both within countries and between
different parts of the world.

If in individual life we all may reach that part of the long walk where the
opportunity is granted to retire to some rest and tranquillity, for humanity the
walk to freedom and equality seems, alas, still to be long one ahead. This
august institution gains its standing and reputation also from the manner in
which it has conducted, and continues to conduct, itself as an international
presence. Wherever men and women of learning and thought gather, its name and
work are known. It embodies that spirit of universality which marks great
universities. To join the ranks of its alumni, is to be reminded of the oneness
of our global world. The greatest single challenge facing our globalised world
is to combat and eradicate its disparities. While in all parts of the world
progress is being made in entrenching democratic forms of governance, we
constantly need to remind ourselves that the freedoms which democracy brings
will remain empty shells if they are not accompanied by real and tangible
improvements in the material lives of the millions of ordinary citizens of those
countries. Where men and women and children go burdened with hunger, suffering
from preventable diseases, languishing in ignorance and illiteracy, or finding
themselves bereft of decent shelter, talk of democracy and freedom that does not
recognise these material aspects, can ring hollow and erode confidence exactly
in those values we seek to promote. Hence our universal obligation towards the
building of a world in which there shall be greater equality amongst nations and
amongst citizens of nations. The disparity between the developed and developing
world, between North and South, reflects itself also in the sphere of
educational and intellectual resources. When in Africa we speak and dream of,
and work for, a rebirth of that continent as a full participant in the affairs
of the world in the next century, we are deeply conscious of how dependent that
is on the mobilisation and strengthening of the continent's resources of
learning.

The current world financial crisis also starkly reminds us that many of the
concepts that guided our sense of how the world and its affairs are best
ordered, have suddenly been shown to be wanting. They are seen to have hidden
real structural defects in the world economic system. The precepts of the
economic theorists who could so confidently prescribe to all, now appear to have
drawn much of their apparent intellectual validation from having been
unchallenged by the day-to-day operations of a system that operated in the
interests of the powerful. Not only does this crisis call for fundamental
rethinking and reconceptualisation on the part of the theorists of the North. It
more particularly and urgently emphasises the need for thinkers and
intellectuals of the developing world to sharpen their skills and analyses, and
for a genuine partnership between those of the North and the South in helping
shape a world order that answers to the shared and common needs of all peoples.
This university already has had a long partnership of learning and teaching with
the South African people. There are many names that one could mention of persons
now holding office in government or in institutions of civil society who spent
time at Harvard or benefited from programmes conducted jointly with this
institution. For that, our fledgling democracy faced with enormous tasks of
reconstruction and development owes your institution a great debt of gratitude.
As South Africans play their role in helping to conceptualise and give content
to the African Renaissance, we continue to draw upon the intellectual skills
nurtured and honed here. The United States of America and democratic South
Africa have in the course of these last four years built a relationship of
mutual respect and co-operation, each country respecting the sovereignty of the
other while co-operating as partners. As part of this relationship the scholars
who had the benefit of studying here, returned better equipped to deal with the
local challenges and problems as Africans. It is therefore a source of great
encouragement and inspiration for us to learn about the "Emerging Africa"
research project housed in the newly-created Center for International
Development at Harvard. Its objective of undertaking an appraisal of Africa 92s
economic, social and political history, as well as the problems facing the
continent, is timely and to be greatly welcomed. That it will be doing this in
collaboration with African research institutions and scholars, will serve to
strengthen and build African intellectual capacity to take charge of its
reconstruction and regeneration. I am confident that it will also strengthen and
build your own understanding of African reality and your capacity to analyse
that reality as part of our shared world.

Mister President, we accept this great honour bestowed upon us today as a
symbol of how South Africa and the United States, Africa and the West, the
developing and the developed world, are reaching out and joining hands as
partners in building a world order that equally benefits all the nations and
people of the world.

For three hundred years this great institution has served its nation with
distinction. We enter the new millennium in the hope that the rich fruits of
learning, science and technological progress will in this coming century truly
be shared by all in this global village in which we live. We are confident that
this institution of which we are now a proud member will play a leading role in
achieving that.

Thank you.

Address by President Nelson Mandela on Receiving and Honorary Doctorate from Harvard University

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