Facebook is partnering with Major League Hacking (MLH) to sponsor scholarships for applicants who self-identify as Black or of the African diaspora to participate in the MLH Fellowship. The MLH Fellowship is a remote educational program that provides up-and-coming developers with real world hands-on experience working on open-source projects hosted by Facebook Open Source and many others with the mentorship of experienced engineers.
This year, MLH has made significant progress in advancing the diversity of its program – increasing the representation of Black developers who participate in the MLH Fellowship by 60%. It’s so important that diverse representation is present at all levels in tech and we hope to ignite real and lasting change toward equity and diversity.
Spring applications for new fellows and mentors are now open! https://fellowship.mlh.io/
Young Leaders for Peace (YLP) is an interdisciplinary, innovative two-week program designed to empower youth with the knowledge and skills to lead peace efforts in their own communities. Launched in summer 2025 at the University for Peace (UPEACE) in Costa Rica, YLP promotes leadership and peacebuilding through immersive workshops and experiential learning. The program emphasizes community collaboration and highlights the close relationship between peace, sustainability, and the natural environment.
An academic who lost her career and became a refugee when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan has been conferred as a Visiting Professor at De Montfort University (DMU), which serves as the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) SDG 11 Hub Chair.
Atefa Waseq was stripped of her teaching role and her right to pursue a doctorate when the Taliban seized power. After Taliban fighters retook Kabul on 15 August 2021, edicts restricting women’s movement and banning women and girls from secondary and higher education left over 78 per cent of Afghan women out of education, a situation UN Women has warned is increasingly untenable.
The Regional Institute of Gender, Diversity, Peace, and Rights (RIGDPR) at Ahfad University for Women (AUW) in Sudan—UNAI SDG Hub 1 Vice-Chair for Outreach and Partnership—leads student-centered internships with partners across sectors. Despite ongoing conflict in the country, students have contributed to gender assessments, empowerment workshops, and psychosocial support for displaced women—bridging academic training with real-world action and driving meaningful social change.