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UNAI Special Series: Refugees in Higher Education

When you become a refugee – a person who has escaped from their own country for political, religious, or economic reasons or because of a war - they lose not only a home. You feel a part of your identity falling off, while the strong bonds built with friends and families back home are also lost along the way. You are suddenly placed in a new environment with no one to rely on. Just imagine how much courage it takes to rebuild your life from scratch.

To commemorate the World Refugee Day on 20 June, the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) has produced a series of podcasts and articles, bringing together stories of refugees from Afghanistan, Thailand/Myanmar, Nepal/Bhutan, Haiti and Rwanda.

Promoting Intellectual Property Law to Protect Creativity

The , a UNAI member institution in Spain, has been conducting a project entitled ‘The Art of Protection’, developed by Professors Francisco Oncina and Isabel Alemany. According to the experts, art and design should not be seen only as identifying elements of cultures, but also as an “engine” of socioeconomic development given their commercial relevance. Considering this, protection of intellectual property must be enforced so artists can benefit from what they do and continue to make their art.

How Cities can Use Information Technology to Combat COVID-19

How has COVID-19 affected the way cities approach public health crises such as pandemics and the technology they use to help them safeguard public health? This is the question a research group coordinated by Prof. Celso Machado, Jr. at , a member institution of UNAI in Brazil, set out to answer with a new study on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in city management. The study analyses a wide range of environmental, social, and economic variables, while examining sustainable and resilient cities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robots to Rescue: Using Technology to Mitigate Effects of Natural Disasters

(NUT), a UNAI member institution in Japan serving as the Hub for , has been a world-leading institution in the development of disaster response robots used to save lives and prevent damage from spreading in times of disaster.

Rescue robots have been used for many years and their technology has improved dramatically over the years, including their mechanical reliability when employed in the field. Due to the wide array and complexity of disasters experienced not only in Japan but around the world, innovation is a critical factor in robot technology, which is considered a next generation industry that can foster employment and economic development and help advance the through practical solutions.

Enabling Quality Remote Learning During the Pandemic

“Leaving no one behind means leaving no one offline, yet, half of the world’s population, an estimated 3.7 billion people, does not use the Internet,” warns the Policy Brief: Leveraging digital technologies for social inclusion issued by the �山����Department of Economic and Social Affairs (�山����DESA). A published by UNESCO noted the impact of this digital divide on education during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the move to digital learning has excluded “large numbers of learners, amplifying existing educational disparities.”

Fostering Innovation and Creativity for Social Change

The world faces many challenges today, ranging from health crises and climate change, to political and social turmoil and overpopulation, critical issues that require the knowledge and resources that institutions of higher education can provide to support societal change and foster social innovation. 

According to a , social innovations are “new solutions (products, services, models, markets, processes etc.) that simultaneously meet a social need more effectively than existing solutions and lead to new or improved capabilities and relationships and better use of assets and resources.”

Teaching Carbon Literacy to Combat Climate Change

Countries need to act now to address climate change and there is a need for collaborative approaches that connect citizens with policymakers to create sustainable solutions. The notes that countries should “reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible” and “undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with best available science.”

With this is mind, , a UNAI member institution in the United Kingdom, has partnered with The Carbon Literacy Project to promote an economy based on low-carbon energy sources with minimal greenhouse gas emissions, in particular carbon dioxide.

Fighting Modern Slavery through Awareness and Training

Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads, “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.” But according to the 2017 issued by the International Labour Organization, the International Organization for Migration and the Walk Free Foundation, “On any given day in 2016, there were likely to be more than 40 million men, women, and children who were being forced to work against their will under threat or who were living in a forced marriage that they had not agreed to.”

Training Students for the Green Jobs of the Future

The (UKK), a UNAI member institution in Japan, is engaged in the development of environment-focused human resources under its “Cultivate the Environment” goal, one of three goals formulated by the university in 2016. According to the institution, solutions to environmental problems require an interdisciplinary approach, and it is essential for students to acquire knowledge and skills from a wide range of fields, as well as develop networks with people in different professions and specialties.

Sharing Personal Experiences to Combat Prejudice

The Center for Affirmative Action at the , a UNAI member institution in Brazil, hosted a series of webinars during the COVID-19 pandemic to address various forms of prejudice, such as racism, ableism, sexism, xenophobia, and other forms of exclusion. The series was held within the framework of the ‘Awakening Project’ (Projeto Despertar) and is related to .

Agricultural Innovations for Food Security and Well-Being

, a UNAI member institution in Kazakhstan, recently hosted the 5th International Agrotechnological Summit, organized with the support of the . The focus of the event was the study of the recent trends and challenges in the field of sustainable agriculture and climate change around the topic of “Innovative Development of the Agro-industrial Complex in the Context of Economic Globalization.”

Advancing Women's Higher Education in Afghanistan

During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities have sought to keep students engaged remotely and , a UNAI member institution in the United States, has used its to empower students to continue contributing to their communities while studying away from campus.   

Partnering with (WFI) and through its Lynn University became involved in a project with the (AIL) to design a women’s only university curriculum in Afghanistan.

Disability and Higher Education: Workforce Preparedness for Students with Disabilities

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 per cent of the global population. Therefore, it is imperative that they are fully included in society, starting with having equal access to quality education.   

Disability and Higher Education: Better Architectural Choices for Inclusive Campuses

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, including having equal access to quality education.

From Many Languages One World to Data Analyst: Yelyzaveta Dovhinka

The Many Languages, One World (MLOW) essay contest, co-hosted by 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.