Education 4 Justice Roundtable of the Women’s Empowerment Programme Latin America
On the 22nd of July 2021, the Roundtable on Education 4 Justice (E4J) took place as part of the Women’s Empowerment Programme Latin America. The aim of this Roundtable was to foster a thorough understanding of E4J and motivate the young women to become active agents for E4J. The E4J initiative – under the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration – seeks to prevent crime and promote a culture of lawfulness through education activities designed for primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
Speakers Incentive Talks
The Roundtable was moderated by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime E4J Coordinator Lulua Asaad.
The first speaker, Ambassador Miguel Ruiz Cabañas, Mexican Foreign Service, Coordinator of SDG Initiative at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), informed the Global Citizen Fellows about the high number of forced marriages of women under the age of 18 years, which leads to a severe lack of education. His message to our GC Fellows was: “We have to change cultural patterns”.
Mr. Serge Brammertz, Chief Prosecutor, International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, used his talk to highlight that justice is not only about the court, but about our understanding of justice in the private sphere.
Hon. Vanessa Ruiz, Senior Judge for the Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, United States of America and the former President of the International Association of Women Judges, followed with her statement that the citizenry must realize what the rule of law is and why it matters. Furthermore, Hon. Ruiz emphasized, that young-aged girls must be educated about their fundamental rights and freedoms.
The last speaker of the Roundtable was Ms. Luciana Asper y Valdez (Public Prosecutor, Brazil; E4J Champion and UNODC/UNESCO Policy Guides Contributor). In her incentive talk, she highlighted that the GC Fellows should maintain the focus on their core values and become an ambassador for them.
As the next step of our Women Empowerment Programme Latin America, we look forward to our GC Fellows to turn ideas into action and tackle the Global Goals in their communities and address Education 4 Justice (E4J) challenges.
SDG Dialogueforum Austria “Building forward better with Agenda 2030”
SDG Dialogueforum Austria “Building forward better with Agenda 2030″ on the theme ‘Together for sustainable development after Covid-19’ is an event co-hosted by the Ban Ki-moon Centre, SDG Watch Austria and the Austrian inter-ministerial Working Party on Agenda 2030. It will discuss the implementation of the Agenda 2030 in Austria, as well as putting emphasis on four focus areas with Innovation pools on “Digitalization”, “Women, youth and ‘leaving no one behind’, climate action and adaptation to climate change, and Austria in the global context.
Date: 28 September 2021, 12.30 – 18.00 (tbd)
Location: Hybrid – Virtual/Museum of Natural History Vienna
Please note that this event will be held in GERMAN.
Das SDG Dialogforum Österreich “Building forward better mit der Agenda 2030” wird unter dem Thema ‘Gemeinsam für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung nach Covid-19’ von der Bundesverwaltung sowie Vertreterinnen und Vertretern der Zivilgesellschaft gemeinsam veranstaltet. Es geht darum, die konkrete Umsetzung der Agenda 2030 und der 17 Ziele für Nachhaltige Entwicklung (SDGs) in Österreich zu diskutieren – mit einem besonderen Schwerpunkt auf entsprechende Innovationen.
Wie im SDG 17 „Partnerschaften zur Erreichung der Ziele” vorgesehen, wollen wir mit jährlichen SDG-Dialogforen Multi-Stakeholder-Partnerschaften fördern. Diese sollen dazu beitragen, Wissen und Expertise zu mobilisieren und so die politische Kohärenz für nachhaltige Entwicklung zu steigern.
In neuartigen Innovationspools werden relevante Fragen für die SDG-Zielerreichung behandelt, um die Ergebnisse anschließend in die weitere Arbeit zur Umsetzung in Österreich einfließen zu lassen. Beim ersten Dialogforum konzentrieren wir uns auf die Herausforderungen und Möglichkeiten beim Weg aus der COVID-19-Pandemie.
Wir danken Ihnen schon jetzt, dass Sie sich diese Veranstaltung vormerken und freuen uns, Sie im September beim SDG Dialogforum Österreich begrüßen zu dürfen!
Datum: 28 September 2021, 12.30 – 18.00 (tbd)
Ort: Hybrides Event: teils physisch auf Einladung/Naturhistorisches Museum Wien
Zur Registrierung
Weitere Informationen zum Dialogforum
Opening Week of the Women’s Empowerment Programme Latin America (WEP)
On July 12, 2021, we launched the Women’s Empowerment Programme (WEP) Latin America, which brings together 20 young women changemakers from Bolivia, Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras and Peru. Cooperating with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Doha Declaration (UNODC) and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna (DA), the fully virtual WEP will take place between July 2021 and March 2022. Thanks to the financial support of the State of Qatar, the selected young leaders were equipped with Global Citizen Fellowships to embark on this journey together with the BKMC. From July to September the GC Fellows will take part in an intensive leadership training, preparing them to implement an SDG Micro-Project in the months to come.
Orientation Session
The initial orientation session of the WEP gave an overview of the training programme and provided the opportunity for the fellows to meet and get to know each other. They shared their inspiring backgrounds as young professionals in international and environmental affairs, the education and NGO sector, as well as being founders of their own initiatives.
SDGs, Global Citizenship, and SDG Micro-Projects: Turning Ideas into Action
On the 14th of July, CEO Monika Froehler introduced the mission and vision of the BKMC. The fellows subsequently voted on the strongest statements they would use to describe the concept of global citizenship and the relation between justice and the SDGs.
Global Citizenship Education Expert d’Arcy Lunn then elaborated on how to turn ideas into action. After an inspiring session, the fellows felt more motivated to be changemakers for the SDGs.
SDG Micro-Project Ideation Workshop
On the following day, the cohort got together for a workshop on SDG Micro-Project Ideation, facilitated by COO Katrin Harvey, Program Officer Viola Christian and Project Intern Anna Koessler. Split up into small teams, the fellows practiced their skills to spot a challenge, find a solution, and innovate an SDG Micro-Project.
With 10 weeks of intensive training ahead of them, the GC Fellows, now have a solid understanding on Global Citizenship, the SDGs and SDG Micro-Projects. We cannot wait to see what initiatives they will pursue as their very own SDG Micro-Projects.
The BKMC becomes Knowledge Partner for the Climate Walkers
BKMC RAUN research mentee Eva-Maria Holzinger got inspired by her academic work on sustainability and together with other young changemakers initiated the project called “Wanderers of Changing Worlds: Walk and Talk through Europe’s Climates”.
As part of the Knowledge Association Board, the BKMC is actively supporting the project and serving as an expert on the SDGs. The project is touching on SDG 3, SDG 4, SDG 13, and SDG 17.
The combined research, education, and media project aim to understand the regional experience of climate change by walking through different climate zones in Europe as of 5 June 2022. This summer, the climate activists are undertaking instead a tour across Austria, walking through all 9 counties and entering into dialogue with its citizens to know more about how climate change is impacting their everyday lives. If you would like to join the group on their walk check out their route here.
As a preparation for the walk, the group organized a lecture series at the University of Vienna in the first quarter of 2021, to teach students about the multiple perspectives of climate change. The BKMC CEO Monika Fröhler gave a presentation on “The interconnectedness of the SDGs, Global Citizenship and Climate Action” during Lecture Series #4 – “We Talk”. She highlighted the importance and challenges of the Paris Climate Agreement and gave an introduction to the SDGs as a tool to tackle the climate emergency.
The BKMC is happy to support this important initiative and is looking forward to joining these changemakers on their last stop in Vienna.
The Climate Walk is a project established by the Wanderers of Changing Worlds in 2019. Through the pillars of research, education and media, the group wants to raise awareness about the changing climate and its impacts on people across Europe by walking 12.000 km from Norway to Portugal, crossing 16 countries in 8 months.
BAN KI-MOON STAGE at the RELX INSPIRATION DAY
On June 22nd, RELX hosted the seventh SDG Inspiration Day in collaboration with several organizations including the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens, Global Citizen, UN Global Compact India, UN Global Compact UK. The virtual event explored the topic Mobilising Business for a Better World: Accelerating Business Action on the #SDGs. Watch all the sessions right here.
This year the event hosted a Ban Ki-moon stage with opening remarks from the former United Nations Secretary-General himself. “We need everyone’s engagement. If we want this global roadmap to succeed by 2030, the contribution of businesses is essential. I am proud to have expanded and mainstreamed the UN Global Compact, which ensures that business is done both sustainably and responsibly.”…watch his full message below:
The same stage also hosted an interactive session moderated by BKMC CEO Monika Froehler joined by Youth Council Member of the World Humanitarian Forum and SDG Ambition Leader of UN Global Compact, Kenneth Kwok, Operations Consultant and Global Citizen Scholar Akosua Pepra, and Executive Director, UNGC India, Shabnam Siddiqui.
The session titled Mobilising future business leaders on the SDGs focused on the role of youth entrepreneurship and activism when it comes to achieving the 2030 Agenda. A key takeaway is to make the process of SDG implementation much general conclusion was that youth are seen as agents of implementation, but not seen as strategic partners who can join the decision table. Akosua demanded, “I think it is time to see youth as really important stakeholders in strategy and planning.”
Get more information about Relx Inspiration Day here.
BKMC teams up with Global Citizen to Promote Climate-Resilient Agriculture
Climate change is already transforming humanity’s relationship with nature, and nowhere is this shift more apparent than in the field of agriculture. Farmers worldwide are contending with rising temperatures, proliferating pests, and increasing droughts and floods that require new approaches to crops that have been grown for generations.
It’s a dynamic that leaves farmers exposed to financial ruin and diminishing yields, a prospect that threatens global food security at a time when the global population and its demand for calories continues to grow.
The COVID-19 pandemic has further impacted farmers, often cutting them off from laborers, markets, and government assistance. “Building back better” from the pandemic requires bold climate action that prioritizes smallholder farmers who are struggling to overcome structural and environmental forces outside of their control. That’s why the BKMC is entering a two-year partnership with Global Citizen — to advocate for climate-resilient agriculture by championing smallholder farmers especially in Africa and calling on world leaders to strengthen global food security and increase development aid to agricultural adaptation.
“2021 is the year we recover back better and call for increased political commitments,” said Ban Ki-moon, founder of the organization and 8th secretary-general of the United Nations.
“Partnering with Global Citizen on adaptation, the Ban Ki-moon Centre will join the collective effort to address climate change, focusing on building the climate resilience of smallholder farmers around the world.”
The partnership will involve behind-the-scenes advocacy and public awareness efforts that work hand-in-hand. By identifying governments that have shown broad sympathy for the cause of climate adaptation, the partnership will seek to increase development aid for agricultural adaptation in low-income countries.
In support of these outreach efforts, Global Citizen and the BKMC will also seek to improve understanding of the challenges facing smallholder farmers, the complex dynamics of climate change, and how demand-driven research, such as those championed by CGIAR, accelerates climate adaptation on the ground.In particular, the Program will bring forward the stories of smallholder farmers and how they’re confronting the climate crisis, incorporating agricultural adaptation tools and techniques, and building a better future.
While countries have shifted toward a form of industrial agriculture in recent decades that features massive plots of land and heavy use of chemicals, there are still roughly 570 million smallholder farms worldwide that manage land less than two acres in size. These farms support communities through food production, jobs, and the maintenance of traditional practices. But climate change primarily threatens smallholder farmers who do not always have the resources to adapt to emerging disruptions. Farmers often have to sell or leave their land when faced with rising temperatures, droughts, and other environmental changes. The absorption of small farms into industrial farms, meanwhile, often further contributes to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions.
Today you can start by taking our joint short quiz powered by Global Citizen to understand why the situation facing farmers is so urgent.
The partnership will highlight the lived experiences of female farmers on the front lines of food production; break down how adequately funded research can transform agriculture; explore how young people are reshaping agriculture and unlocking new opportunities; explain how agricultural adaptation practices can actually mitigate climate change, and look at how farming communities can improve rural development more broadly.
Through written content, video, and social media, the partners will put a light on the people who are crucial to the future survival of humanity: farmers.
Whether or not countries can navigate the disruptions of the worsening climate crisis depends in part on how well smallholder farmers can adapt. Farmers require stable weather c
onditions and steady supplies of water, both of which are becoming increasingly precarious as temperatures rise. Looked at another way, focusing on the plight of farmers can foster society-wide climate resilience. If the people who tilled the land were prioritized in global decision-making processes, then fossil fuels would be phased out more rapidly and inequality eradicated sooner. After all, fewer greenhouse emissions mean less climate change and more favorable conditions for growing food.
Global Citizen Scholars Attend Bordeaux Summer School on “African Cities in 2030”
From May 31 – June 4, the 2021 cohort of BKMC Global Citizen Scholars (GC Scholars) attended an intensive 1-week summer school training on “African Cities in 2030” with the University of Bordeaux.
The training brought together a multi-disciplinary group of professors, young researchers, and practitioners to discuss challenges and opportunities related to creating sustainable cities and communities in Africa.
The challenges that were addressed by the training included: rapid urbanization within a context of limited economic growth, threats resulting from climate change, uncontrolled road traffic, and the expansion of polluting industries.
In addition to the lectures, the scholars were divided up into groups to work on specific challenges.
GC Scholars Eedee-Bari Bawoh, David Aluga, and Bessy Thurania were assigned the role of a “government” addressing a “multilateral organization.” In their case, they acted as the government of Kisumu City (Kenya) addressing the African Development Bank and presented a proposal for investing more in “Green Infrastructure and Spaces” in alignment with Kenya Vision 2030, the SDGs, and the African Green Growth Strategy. They proposed a multi-pronged solution including sensitizing and educating communities and leaders, planting trees, improving sanitation, and ensuring equitable and strategic distribution of green spaces.
GC Scholars Mercy Waweru, Gillian Ndlovu, and Tahirih Munji Kengne, were tasked with playing an “NGO” which was addressing the “Gates Foundation.” Their goal was to acquire funding for an initiative to provide garden sacks to improve nutrition and air quality in Bamako, Mali.
With the training as a foundation, the scholars will now seek to apply what they have learned to their own SDG Micro-Projects. Stay tuned for updates on our scholars and their projects!
Learn more about our scholars!
Learn more about the University of Bordeaux and its Summer Schools!
„Only the Beginning“– Closing of the ASEAN Youth for SDGs Webinar Series
Throughout a two-month period, 33 young leaders from the Southeast Asian Region took part in the ASEAN Youth for SDGs Webinar Series, organized by the BKMC in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). After participating in two webinars and one side event at the margins of the 14th UN Crime Congress, the ASEAN youth representatives were put in charge of planning their own SDG Micro-Projects during a one-month SDG Micro-Project Incubator phase.
At the end of the Incubator, 33 SDG Micro-Project plans were submitted, accompanied by video pitches putting forth 33 innovative solutions to tackle local challenges and, thus, contribute to the SDGs.
On April 29th we celebrated the closing of the ASEAN Youth for SDGs Webinar Series. As a special highlight, each of the participants received their Certificate of Participation and a unique illustration of their SDG Micro-Project, designed by the artist Kat J. Weiss. The three most compelling video pitches were streamed during the event, demonstrating the immense potential that lies within to act as global citizens. Check out the illustrations at our online exhibition below:
Co-chair Heinz Fischer and UNODC Programme Officers Lulua Assad and Gilberto Duarte provided congratulatory remarks and the event provided the opportunity to reminisce about their learnings and experiences throughout the webinar series.
The cohort agreed that this was only the beginning and that the webinar series motivated them to actively contribute to the SDGs and turn their ideas into action. Congratulations to all!
Looking for some inspiration to turn your ideas into action? Have a look at our album of action here and check out the video about the ASEAN Youth for SDGs Webinar Series below:
BKMC Celebrates Africa Day 2021
May 25th is celebrated as Africa Day 2021 around the globe to mark the founding of the African Union 🌍🌍 This year’s theme of Africa Day is Arts, Culture, And Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want.
As the Ban Ki-moon Centre boasts several programs and projects targeting Africa including scholarships and grants for Global Citizenship Education and more, we are happy to support the day! If you are wondering how you can contribute check out Nala Feminist Collective: A Pan-African group of 17 feminists with a mission to foster, enable and mobilize young women from Africa while bridging the gap between policy and implementation. Learn more about Nala here.
They are calling for 10, 000 signature for their Manifesto demanding:
- Economic Justice
- Criminalization of Gender-Based Violence
- Ending Gender Discrimination
- Access to Justice and Protection
- Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights
- Mental Health and Well-Being
- Inclusive, Equitable and Quality Education
- Digital Justice
- Silencing the Guns
- Intergenerational Co-Leadership
✒️Sign the Africa Young Women Manifesto demanding #GenerationEqualityhere.
