SDG of the Month series

This month, Imperial College London’s Global Development Hub will be hearing about how Imperial’s researchers, alumni and global partners are helping to conserve the oceans. The ocean drives global systems that make the Earth habitable for humankind. Our drinking water, climate, much of our food, and even the oxygen we breathe are all ultimately provided and regulated by the sea. However, our oceans are currently under threat from pollution, acidification and over exploitation. Careful management of this essential global resource is a key feature of a sustainable future. To celebrate the occurrence of World Oceans Day this June, the 'SDG of the month' webinar series will highlight the work of Imperials' ocean heroes working to achieve SDG 14 and protect life below water. Speakers: 1. Hollie Booth, PhD Candidate, Department of Zoology University of Oxford and Sharks and Rays Advisor, the Wildlife Conservation Society, SE Asia Archipelago 2. Dr Yves Plancherel, Lecturer in Climate Change

Worldwide, one in three people do not have access to safe drinking water and two out of five people do not have a basic hand-washing facility with soap and water. The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasised the critical importance of sanitation, hygiene and adequate access to clean water for preventing and containing diseases. Providing access to clean water and sanitation facilities are a multi-dimensional issue meaning effective solutions require the collaboration of different disciplines - from medicine to climate science and engineering to global policy. For May’s SDG of the month event, the Global Development Hub brings together an esteemed panel to discuss how researchers across Imperial along with global partners are working collaboratively to achieve SDG 6. Speakers: 1. Dr Laura Braun: Co-Founder, CAPTA 2. Dr Charles Niwagaba: Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Makerere University 3. Dr Robbie Parks: Honorary Research Associate, School of Public Health, Imperi

For March, The Global Development Hub was in conversation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Accelerator Labs Synopsis: 2021 marks six years from the establishment of the UN’s sustainable development goals, including Goal 5: Achieving Gender Equality. Despite important progress towards this goal, women continue to be discriminated against, have their contributions undervalued and experience multiple forms of violence. Accelerated progress is needed globally to address the persistent social and systemic barriers that are driving gender inequalities. This online seminar brought together members from the UNDP’s Accelerator Labs, an initiative launched in 2019 that aims to build a learning network to accelerate progress towards the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. There are currently 90 labs covering 114 countries, working on solutions mapping and testing for some of the biggest economic, social and environmental problems faced across countries. Speakers: Rozita

The SDG of the Month series aims to explore the SDG-aligned work from Imperial’s staff, students, alumni and global partners. For the February edition, we focussed on Goal 10: Reducing Inequalities and the esteemed panel explored this topic with an emphasis on the digital divide in a COVID-19 world. Synopsis: The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on the importance of digital technologies for studying, communicating, trading, shopping, working and participating in much of modern life. However, due to the digital divide, nearly half of the world’s populations have been denied these opportunities during the pandemic, exacerbating global inequalities and providing a barrier to achieving the UN’s goal of reducing inequalities by 2030. To address this growing divide, the UN Commission on Social Development has highlighted the need to understand how digital technologies can be harnessed to support human development in an increasingly digital world. The Global Development Hub brought tog