One year ago United Nations Academic Impact announced the inauguration of the UNAI SDG Hubs, UNAI member institutions selected as exemplars for their innovative scholarship and engagement related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) who serve as resources for best practices for the UNAI network, currently composed of over 1,400 universities and colleges in more than 130 countries.
On the anniversary of the program launch, we’re taking this opportunity to check in with some of the hub schools to highlight their scholarship and activities over the past twelve months and look ahead to future initiatives. The next school profiled in our anniversary series is Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering, and Management Sciences (Pakistan), hub for SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.
The mission of Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering, and Management Sciences (BUITEMS) is to provide quality education with a focus on research and to equip students to be productive members of society, contributing to the socioeconomic uplift of Pakistan in general, and Balochistan in particular, by providing programs and services that empower students, improving their evolving understanding of themselves and their communities.
BUITEMS has an enriched experience working with local, national and international organizations, and has signed agreements with over forty partners around the world. The university also collaborates with them on projects of mutual interest with direct impact on specific targets related to SDG 8, including the establishment of seven dedicated centers to foster youth employment.
It also started consultancy projects in the province along with other local universities to address economic growth issues. For instance, through the National Incubation Center (NIC), we created more than 200 jobs for young people in the province and more than 8,000 students and graduates have obtained internships or employment thanks to the work of the Career Counselling Center.
The China-Pakistan Economic corridor (CPEC) Center of Excellence aims to empower youth with vocational training and foreign languages courses. In addition, the institution has formally adopted the “Outcome Based Education” (OBE) strategy for enabling students to focus on valuable skills and knowledge and learn at their own pace. It also has actively promoted STEM-related fields by hosting the hackathon “NASA’s Space Apps Challenge 2019” with more than 100 participants.
In 2019 BUITEMS also organized the Undergraduate Research Colloquium, in which undergraduate students were able to present their final year projects to industry representatives for job placement and start-up opportunities with a significant social impact. It also carried out the Entrepreneurial Idea Exhibition to cultivate the mindset of a successful entrepreneur by offering entrepreneurship courses and encouraging students to innovate solutions and display their business ideas.
The exhibit included several initiatives related to online shopping, graphic design, event management, and many other areas. Finally, BUITEMS hosted a seminar on job opportunities for youth to present the employment potential for recent graduates in CPEC.
To learn more about the UNAI SDG Hubs, including Balochistan Institute of Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences visit the United Nations Academic Impact SDG Hubs.