News

While global poverty rates have been cut by more than half since 2000, one in ten people in developing regions are still living with their families on less than the international poverty line of US$1.90 a day, and there are millions more who make little more than this daily amount. Significant progress has been made in many countries within Eastern and Southeastern Asia, but up to 42 per cent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to live below the poverty line.

International Women’s Day is 8 March!   The day is an opportunity to reflect on progress made, advocate for change and celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.

A recent high-level event on women in power examined the obstacles that hinder women’s participation and leadership, particularly in positions of power in politics, business and community advocacy.

To commemorate the International Day of Happiness, UNAI spoke to visitors to UNHQ in New York from all over the world to find out what makes them happy. Check out this video and let us know what happiness means to you in the comments!

Making planet Earth more sustainable is possible, as an interactive community event at Southern Illinois University Carbondale demonstrated.

Taylor Reid, Assistant Professor of Applied Food Studies at the Culinary Institute of America, wrote about the latest report titled "The State of the World´s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture" by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

In this week’s article, UNAI is highlighting the work of the 2018 Class of Millennium Fellows Davy Ayuune Atanga, Elona Boateng, Susan Dacosta, and Ayebilla Avoka for their work in the Mentors Network initiative in Ghana.

According to the 2018 Western Public Health Casebook published by the Western University (Canada), public health is both a science and a passion for helping. The cases reaffirm that the ability to work within diverse and interconnected contexts is an essential skill for contemporary workers.

In this week’s article, a member of the 2018 Class of Millennium Fellows, Nathan Tom, describes his experiences as the Co-Founder of the Culinary Collective Project at Arizona State University.

The content, gathered from across the UN System, includes the UN Secretary-General's message for the Day, an interview with former UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador Annie Lennox, and information on the International Labour Organization's new report, "A Quantum Leap for Gender Equality".

The Faculty of Journalism of the Kazakh National University held the 6th International Winter School for young journalists from Central Asian countries. More than 170 media scholars and journalists shared with students the professional techniques of the media profession, the new trends in Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) and insights into the future of the media market.

The American College of Greece (ACG), working together with the U.S. Embassy in Athens, the American College of Thessaloniki/ACT and the American Farm School, launched the program “Education Unites: From Camp to Campus” providing higher education scholarships to 87 refugees. Scholarship recipients included 24 women and 63 men, ages 18 to 40, from 14 countries to help pay for their studies at ACG for the 2017 to 2018 academic year.

Join United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and the Hasso Plattner Institute for a discussion on the immense opportunities and challenges presented by our increasingly data-driven society, the value that can be gained from data that is well-prepared and the dangers of data when misapplied. We have access to, and use, more data than ever, but what are the opportunities and challenges presented by such a data-driven society?

Prof. Felix Naumann, chair for information systems at the Hasso Plattner Institute at the University of Potsdam in Germany, will deliver a talk on these issues followed by Q&A with the audience on Monday, 25 March in the ECOSOC Chamber, UN Headquarters from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm.

Forests cover one third of the Earth's land mass, performing vital functions around the world. Around 1.6 billion people - including more than 2,000 indigenous cultures - depend on forests for their livelihoods, medicines, fuel, food and shelter.

Forests are the most biologically-diverse ecosystems on land, home to more than 80 per cent of the terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects.

On the occasion of the International Year of Indigenous Languages and the International Mother Language Day, the Dag Hammarskjöld Library of the United Nations hosted a panel discussion to spotlight the importance of preserving indigenous languages and integrating them into the education system.

The ASPIRE chapter of East Stroudsburg hosted a free community screening of Black Panther and held a panel discussion to explore the film’s underlying themes, discuss the promotion of inclusivity, dispel stigma, and imagine a more equitable community through the arts.

The Energy Policy and Development Centre (KEPA) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece) actively promotes regional cooperation and knowledge transfer on climate change and green energy issues.

In 2018, Ahfad University for Women’s (AUW) Gender and Reproductive Health and Rights Resource and Advocacy Center (GRACe) conducted activities to promote Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

The United Nations Academic Impact and Millenium Campus Network proudly present the Millennium Fellowship - a semester-long leadership development programme on your campus to take your social impact to the next level. Apply by 28 February!

This week our #SDGsinAcademia series features the American University in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), a member institution of United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), that has been chosen as the SDG Hub for Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.