News

16 October 2017 – Africa must focus on young people, empower women and girls, and be innovative in leveraging resources and financing for development, Secretary-GeneralAntónio Guterres said Monday as the United Nations kicked off Africa Week.

13 October 2017 – The United Nations human rights office on Friday expressed deep concern about a wave of arrests in Azerbaijan, Egypt and Indonesia of more than 180 people perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), many of whom have reportedly been mistreated by law enforcement officials.

UNAI member and higher education hub CETYS University raises close to $27k for earthquake victims.

Around 90 tons of food collected at the centers located in the three campuses of CETYS University were sent to the victims of the earthquake that devastated south and central Mexico in the past weeks.  

9 October 2017 – A nutrition crisis, exacerbated by continuing violence, instability and displacement, is threatening the lives and futures of thousands of children in Mali, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned today.

When writing a scientific research paper two years ago, Milena Malteze, a law student from the University of São Paulo in Brazil, concluded that her country did too little to fully implement international regulations regarding the ocean, even though it is the country with the second longest coastline in Latin America.

Bogota, 7 October –The United Nations announced today that it was seeking applications for its second class of Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals--exceptional young people who are leaders in the effort to end poverty, combat climate change and reduce inequalities. 

On 9 September 2017, WEF celebrated its Annual Global Citizen Awards Gala during an evening of multicultural experience in Oklahoma City. In the presence of some 350 global citizens, various community members were acknowledged for their ongoing contribution to make societal inclusion, multiculturalism, pluralism and multilingualism a reality for all.

2 October 2017 – Noting that in today's world, violence has become a “tool of choice” for many and new evidence, of destruction and suffering, every day resulting from this choice, the President of the United Nations General Assembly has called for greater efforts to prevent conflict and for the Organization to promote the use of non-violence across all three pillars of its work.

A mid-sized private university in the United States has made a big contribution to its hometown by building homes for the homeless. More than 400 volunteers from United Nations Academic Impact member institution Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, banded together to construct the three tiny homes. Students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members worked for seven days in September to build the structures from the ground up. The completed homes—each featuring a vaulted ceiling, electricity, heating, four windows, a bed and a small porch—were donated to Joppa, a non-profit organization that helps homeless people survive, get housing and rebuild their lives.

29 September 2017 – About 57 per cent of all schools are closed in Nigeria's Borno state, worst hit by the Boko Haram insurgency and the subsequent humanitarian crisis, leaving an estimated 3 million children in need of emergency education support, even as the new school year begins, the United Nations child agency said today.

Our digital discussion series on sustainable tourism continues with an interview with Diane Lion Giustiniani, manager of Bambu Indah hotel in Bali, Indonesia. Bambu Indah is a hotel committed to the “Think globally, act locally” campaign that aims to protect the planet and empower local communities. In relation to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12—Responsible Consumption and Production—Bambu Indah practices various eco-friendly initiatives including the use of a greywater filtration system, recycling waste management and serving locally produced foods.

Our digital discussion series on sustainable tourism begins with an interview with Kelly Bricker—Professor and Director of the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism at the University of Utah, USA. For over 30 years, Professor Bricker has conducted research on heritage tourism, natural resource-related tourism environments and the socioeconomic impacts of tourism. She claims that sustainable tourism is an enormous economic driver, an argument which relates to Sustainable Development Goal 8 (Promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth, employment and decent work for all).  

The year 2017 has been designated as the Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations. Aligning with this focus, the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) will publish a new digital discussion series on sustainable tourism. The relations between sustainable tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be the major topics of discussions of this series.

22 September 2017 – The torture and ill-treatment of persons suspected of crimes is not only “deeply wrong” but, from an interrogator's perspective, also counterproductive, the United Nations human rights chief said today at an event held in New York.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in collaboration with the United Nations Volunteers Programme (UNV), is now accepting applications from volunteers to assist in the organization and facilitation of the 2017 UN Climate Change Conference, COP 23, which will take place from 6-17 November in Bonn, Germany. 

Applicants are invited to apply online now at: http://www.cop23volunteers.com

18 September 2017 – Global leaders gathering at United Nations Headquarters in New York this week for the annual round of top-level diplomatic talks known as the General Debate will shine a spotlight on the needs of the world’s people, with discussions on vital issues such as sustainable development and climate change, and set the stage for what the President of the UN General Assembly has dubbed a “year of firsts,” which will see the negotiation of the first intergovernmental compact on migratio

15 September 2017 – The number of people hungry around the world is up for the first time in more than a decade, says a new United Nations report issued today, pointing to violent conflicts and climate change as the major drivers.

Each year on 21 September, the International Day of Peace is observed around the world as an occasion for humanity to commit to peace above all differences and contribute to building a culture of peace.

United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) member University Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne has founded the first graduate school in France dedicated to addressing the challenges of sustainable development. Inasmuch as the University Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne—the UNAI hub for human rights—is a research centre for human and social sciences, the new graduate school will take an interdisciplinary approach to finding solutions for sustainable development.

11 September 2017 – Nearly one-in-five children across the Middle East and North Africa – over 90 per cent of whom live in conflict-affected countries – need immediate humanitarian assistance, according to new analysis by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).