Shahidul Alam

Photographer, writer, and human rights activist. Time Magazine Person of the Year 2018.

The development lens has largely focused on basic needs. On the
availability of material things. For our lives to have meaning, we
need more than merely the ability to survive. We need freedom,
dignity, and hope. We need to be able to plan for the future.
Knowledge helps us attain material needs, but equally
importantly, it gains us respect and an insight into our own
destiny. It allows us to make informed choices, to choose the right
path. It allows the governed to have a say in the process of
governance. In a divided world, access to knowledge, provides a
path to equality, the ultimate development goal.

Keywords: freedom, dignity, informed choices, access to knowledge, equality