Speeches
![Mawlana Hazar Imam addresses the Marketplace on Innovative Financial Solutions for Development in Paris on 4 March 2010. Mawlana Hazar Imam addresses the Marketplace on Innovative Financial Solutions for Development in Paris on 4 March 2010.](https://the.ismaili/sites/default/files/styles/news/public/1_26381.jpg?itok=PA0xH42w)
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![Mawlana Hazar Imam addressing the audience before receiving Le Nouvel Economiste's "Prix de l'Entrepreneur philanthropique de l'année 2009 - Philanthropic Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 Award". Mawlana Hazar Imam addressing the audience before receiving Le Nouvel Economiste's "Prix de l'Entrepreneur philanthropique de l'année 2009 - Philanthropic Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 Award".](https://the.ismaili/sites/default/files/styles/news/public/1_2009-12-france-15958.jpg?itok=SJYWulxr)
![Mawlana Hazar Imam addresses the guests at the opening ceremony of the Ismaili Centre Dubai. Mawlana Hazar Imam addresses the guests at the opening ceremony of the Ismaili Centre Dubai.](https://the.ismaili/sites/default/files/styles/news/public/911.jpg?itok=quJClO6Y)
Speech made by Mawlana Hazar Imam at the inauguration of the Ismaili Centre Dubai on 26 March 2008.
![Mawlana Hazar Imam and Dr Amani Abeid Karume, President of Zanzibar and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, accompanied by Madame Shadya Karume, inaugurate the completion of the US$ 2.4 million restoration of Stone Town's Forodhani Park. Mawlana Hazar Imam and Dr Amani Abeid Karume, President of Zanzibar and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, accompanied by Madame Shadya Karume, inaugurate the completion of the US$ 2.4 million restoration of Stone Town's Forodhani Park.](https://the.ismaili/sites/default/files/styles/news/public/1_1040.jpg?itok=HsTwTlfm)
![Mawlana Hazar Imam delivering his Convocation address at the University of Alberta in Edmonton on June 9, 2009. Mawlana Hazar Imam delivering his Convocation address at the University of Alberta in Edmonton on June 9, 2009.](https://the.ismaili/sites/default/files/styles/news/public/1_1005.jpg?itok=fpKoHwgH)
“Even when governments are fragile, or even nearly paralyzed in their functioning, strong civil society organizations can advance the social and economic order as they have done in Kenya and Bangladesh. Civil society is a complex matrix of influences, but its impact can be enormous, especially in rural environments, where, for example, the need for stronger secondary as well as primary schools is dramatically evident. We have also learned that effective civil progress involves a multiplicity of inputs and a variety of partners - including universities.”
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