TR
The "UNCA Awards", which honor UN-related work each year, were presented to their winners at a ceremony held in New York. This year, for the first time, a Turkish educator, Enver Yücel, received the award.
At the ceremony attended by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Enver Yücel, Founder of Bahçeşehir Uğur Educational Institutions and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Bahçeşehir University, received the"Global Education Award". Enver Yücel, the first Turk in the world to receive an award in this category, received his award from Ban Ki-moon.
In addition to UN officials, the award ceremony held in New York was attended by many politicians, diplomats, artists and journalists. Speaking at the award ceremony, Enver Yücel referred to the importance of education and stated that education shapes the future of humanity. Emphasizing that the world and humanity will lose if education falters, Yücel said in his speech, which he concluded with words in Turkish: "I believe there is no problem in the world that education cannot solve. I have served this cause throughout my life. Everything is for my country Türkiye, for the world, for humanity. I would also like to thank my wife, who gave me great support in receiving this award." After the award ceremony, Enver Yücel also had a private meeting with Ban Ki-moon, sharing his views with the UN Secretary-General on educational problems around the world, especially the education of refugee children, and possible solutions.
During the evening, awards were also presented to journalists working at the UN according to their news categories and topics. Famous Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli gave a concert for the guests after receiving the "Global Humanitarian" award. Previous award winners in various categories include Bill Clinton, Sir Richard Branson, Angelina Jolie, Ted Turner, Nicolas Cage, Mira Sorvino, John Prendergast and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
