“Phase II of life” – Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus

Knowledge-based society and social inclusion for a sustainable future

At a certain age, people get retired from services. Whereas Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus thinks there is no retirement – this is the next step of life “Phase II” where there is freedom of work and scope of sharing experiences to build better future and a knowledge-based society.

This year Prof. Yunus turns 78 years. At this age, people get retired in many countries. But he is still an optimist, motivated and working for the new economy of zero poverty, zero unemployment, and zero net carbon emissions. In his closing speech at the Social Business Day 2018, he expressed his thinking about retirement and said there is no retirement, it just a level of the stage in life where has enormous scope of works for sustainable society.

Happy Birthday Muhammad Yunus. Thank you for all the work you’ve done to fight poverty using education and economic theory. @Yunus_Centre pic.twitter.com/kJn9XNRknZ

— Sharon Stone (@sharonstone) June 28, 2018

A knowledge society generates ideas, share among all the members, and create platform access to all in the community that would be used to develop humankind. The concept of the knowledge society is based on the full range of data available and information dissemination that brings innovation and invention for humanity, equal access to knowledge and social inclusion. The UNESCO World Report establishes the four principles cultural diversity, equal access to education, universal access to information in the public domain and freedom of expression that are essential for the development of an equitable knowledge society.

 
Globally life expectancy has been increased, and the scientific study suggested that people life will be longer in the future. Most of them are active and continually becoming role model and inspiration for their social contribution and competence. Sabariah Hussein at her 70, cooks for more than 300 people in a day in her apartment to feed the homeless, refugees, or any person who needs food. Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad has been elected once again Prime Minister of Malaysia at the age of 92. Ernestine Shepherd, the oldest female bodybuilder in the world who runs a gym as a certified personal trainer.

The low-income countries life expectancy also increased dramatically for better access to health programs and medicine. The country like Bangladesh, where people total life expectancy is 71.8, and the average female life expectancy is 73.1. My aunt lived 92 years, and last one year in her life she moved with a wheelchair for her leg injury. Until her death in this year, she was very active in the community to teach and help people who need her hands.

There are many more examples of “retired people in their Phase II stage in life” are working as a mentor and knowledge hub to assist others in building a sustainable society.