The University of Human Development (UHD) held the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2022 on Wednesday, 07th December 2022 – more than 500 students from 10 departments were eligible to graduate and receive their diplomas. They were the eleventh generation of UHD graduates.

The ceremony started with the recitation of the Holy Quran followed by the national and UHD anthems. Asst Prof. Dr Ahmed Omar Bali read a statement on behalf of the preparation committee in which he thanked his team and wished the graduates a bright future. He mentioned that many UHD graduates in the past have found jobs despite the rise of unemployment in Kurdistan.

UHD President, Prof. Dr Mariwan Ahmed Rasheed, congratulated the graduates in a speech and said that UHD is doing all it can to provide the best learning environment for its students. He referred to some achievements such as that UHD was the first university to implement the Bologna Process in response to the Kurdistan Region Ministry of Higher Education’s request; it received accreditation from ASIC; it is the only private university in Sulaymaniyah governorate that is licensed by the Ministry of Higher Education to have a pedagogy centre for training holders of Master and PhD degrees and preparing them for teaching at universities; it collaborates with the Ministry of Higher Education and with public and private universities in Kurdistan in many areas; it has run training courses and workshops for civil servants of various government agencies; it has recently opened the Manuscripts and Cultural Heritage Unit to collect and preserve Kurdish scholars’ manuscripts; UHD has sent students aboard for educational purposes; and UHD lecturers take a leading role in research publication and participation in international programmes such as Erasmus Plus. The president finally thanked the UHD’s Head of the Board of Trustees, Prof. Dr Ali Qaradaghi, for his continuous care and support to the university.

Graduates then took the oath of observing good work ethics and serving their country in the best way they can. Graduates of each college repeated the words of the oath after their deans.

Later on, graduates individually received a paper on the stage from the president and took photos with him as a symbol of accomplishing their studies.

The ceremony took place in Prof. Dr Ali Qaradaghi Hall. It was viewed live on UHD’s social media platforms. Families and friends of the graduates also joined the event.