Firdaus Kharas, was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, at the 9:30 a.m. ceremony on Thursday, June 11 “in recognition of his innovative work as a social entrepreneur and for his contributions to the advancement of public health and children’s rights in a global context.”
Social innovator, director and humanitarian Firdaus Kharas creates media designed to educate, entertain and change societal and individual behavior to better the human condition. He is a specialist in creating animated shorts, especially on human rights and disease prevention. His work has been versioned into 100 languages, used in 150 countries and been attributed to positively influencing millions of lives.
Previous to his work in media, Mr. Kharas was the executive director of the United Nations Association in Canada, policy advisor (Immigration and Refugee Affairs) to the Minister of Immigration and assistant deputy chairman of the Immigration and Refugee Board.
He has been named one of the world’s 50 Most Talented Social Innovators and has been recognized 70 times, including with a Peabody Award, the Reel World Trailblazer Award and the United Nations Peace Medal.
He has degrees and certificates from seven universities, including a Master of Arts from Carleton University.