Disability and Higher Education: Inclusivity in an Increasingly Technologically Inclined Academic World
According to the United Nations Development Programme, the global literacy rate for adults with disabilities is as low as 3 per cent, and only 1 per cent for women with disabilities. The 1 billion people with disabilities are the world’s largest minority, accounting for about 15 percent of the global population. Therefore, it is imperative that they are fully included in society, starting with having equal access to quality education.
What Combating COVID-19 Can Teach Us About Tackling The Climate Crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic can be seen as a “stress test” for global society, with far reaching impacts across education, economic, health, agricultural, transportation and other sectors. Experts from the University of Zurich (Switzerland), a UNAI member institution serving as the SDG Hub for Goal 13: Climate Action, have studied these impacts from a sustainability perspective to determine what lessons we can learn from the pandemic and how they can be applied when dealing with climate change.
Jan R. Baiker, Nadia Castro, Veruska Muccione, Christian Huggel, Simon Allen and Fabian Drenkhan, from the Research Group on Environment and Climate in the Department of Geography, summarized the effects of the pandemic using the three pillars of sustainability: environmental, social and economic.
A Pandemic and Changing Demographics: Supporting Farmers in India
Amidst the measures imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of scholars from Kristu Jayanti College (India), a UNAI member institution also serving as the Hub for Goal 1: No Poverty, visited small-scale farmers in the state of Karnataka to analyze the impact the pandemic is having on their livelihoods and other challenges faced in this area.
Rising to the Challenge: Medical School Alumni Respond to COVID-19
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge worldwide, citizens are looking for different ways to cope with fear and uncertainty, protect their loved ones, and forge ahead while frontline healthcare workers are boldly risking their own health and safety to help care for others.
American University of Antigua College of Medicine (AUA), a UNAI member institution in Antigua and Barbuda, has many alumni serving in healthcare fields. The university is committed to supporting underserved communities and addressing the impending physician shortage with an emphasis on primary care and training the next generation of healthcare professionals to respond to global healthcare needs.
UN75: Shaping Our Future Together
2020 marks the 75th Anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. To commemorate this milestone, United Nations Academic Impact has asked academics, educators and leading figures in the fields of science, technology and innovation to share their views on the multilateral experiment born of war to foster peace, and what they see as the role of the organization in the 21st Century and beyond.
From Many Languages One World to UN Volunteer: Bahati Ernestine
The Many Languages, One World (MLOW) essay contest, co-hosted by ELS Educational Services and United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) from 2014-2017, challenged university students worldwide to write an essay examining global citizenship, cultural understanding and the role of multilingualism in fostering both. The essay had to be written in one of the six official languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish), but not in the student’s first language or primary language of instruction. Winners of the contest were invited to United Nations Headquarters for the Global Youth Forum, where they created and presented action plans for the UN’s Sustainable Development Agenda.
Shattering the Glass Ceiling for Indigenous Women
There are an estimated 476 million Indigenous peoples in the world, living across 90 countries. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.
COVID-19 has posed a grave threat to Indigenous peoples around the world, who already lack access to healthcare and other essential services. Yet, Indigenous peoples are seeking their own solutions in their own languages, using divergent knowledge, practices and preventive measures to fight the pandemic.
In the We Are Indigenous series, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) speaks with Indigenous academics, activists and community leaders to learn how the global Indigenous community’s contributions are building a healthier and more sustainable future for us all.
From Many Languages One World to Pediatric Doctor: Sammy Duncan Musungu
The Many Languages, One World (MLOW) essay contest, co-hosted by ELS Educational Services and United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) from 2014-2017, challenged university students worldwide to write an essay examining global citizenship, cultural understanding and the role of multilingualism in fostering both. The essay had to be written in one of the six official languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish), but not in the student’s first language or primary language of instruction. Winners of the contest were invited to United Nations Headquarters for the Global Youth Forum, where they created and presented action plans for the UN’s Sustainable Development Agenda.
Harnessing the Power of the Internet to Support Human Rights
The process of documenting alleged human rights violations is notoriously complex. The access and resources required can often make comprehensive investigations impractical, creating an accountability gap that can allow perpetrators to deny wrongdoing or dismiss abuses as “isolated incidents.” The University of Essex, a UNAI member institution in the United Kingdom, has identified a potential solution.
Imaginative Student Ideas to Solve Global Problems
In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a guide for bringing peace and prosperity to humanity and our planet. The core of the agenda focused on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), each putting a spotlight on an area in need of immediate attention or improvement. Building on this, Northeastern University, a UNAI member institution in the United States, has teamed up with GlobalShala, an online collaborative platform for learners and educators across the world to design a global competition to inspire student’s inventiveness and intensify their planet-protecting passions.
Breaking Media Stereotypes with Indigenous Storytelling
There are an estimated 476 million indigenous peoples in the world, living across 90 countries. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.
COVID-19 has posed a grave threat to Indigenous peoples around the world, who already lack access to healthcare and other essential services. Yet, Indigenous peoples are seeking their own solutions in their own languages, using divergent knowledge, practices and preventative measures to fight the pandemic.
In the We Are Indigenous series, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) speaks with Indigenous academics and activists to learn how the global Indigenous community’s contributions are building a healthier and more sustainable future for us all.
From Many Languages One World to UN Refugee Agency: Tom Okot
The Many Languages, One World (MLOW) essay contest, co-hosted by ELS Educational Services and United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) from 2014-2017, challenged university students worldwide to write an essay examining global citizenship, cultural understanding and the role of multilingualism in fostering both. The essay had to be written in one of the six official languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish), but not in the student’s first language or primary language of instruction. Winners of the contest were invited to United Nations Headquarters for the Global Youth Forum, where they created and presented action plans for the UN’s Sustainable Development Agenda.
Examining the Humanitarian Impact of Locusts Plagues
The Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires – INSEAD, a UNAI member institution, through its Humanitarian Research Group, which aims to encourage the science of development and relief operations through impactful practice-based research in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, presented the outcome of a research project conducted by Luk N. Van Wassenhove, its Academic Director, and Gina Fialka, Research Associate, on the impact of locust plagues in vulnerable regions.
Indigenous Healthcare and Revitalization
There are an estimated 476 million indigenous peoples in the world, living across 90 countries. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.
COVID-19 has posed a grave threat to Indigenous peoples around the world, who already lack access to healthcare and other essential services. Yet, Indigenous peoples are seeking their own solutions in their own languages, using traditional and innovative knowledge, practices and preventive measures to fight the pandemic.
In the We Are Indigenous series, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) speaks with Indigenous academics and activists to learn how the global Indigenous community’s contributions are building a healthier and more sustainable future for us all.
Examining the Human Cost of Nuclear Testing
26 September marks the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. This article, published within the framework of this international observance and based also on the reflections derived from the webinar on “Rethinking Disarmament”, hosted by the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) on 5 August 2020, on the 75th anniversary of the nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, aims to underline the importance of nuclear disarmament and analyze the human impact of nuclear testing.