October 25, 2022
Thank you to those who attended the EPA workshop! Thank you so much for coming to our EPA Workshop with the Journals of Justice exactly one week ago! We loved seeing you all there :) If you couldn't make the meeting, there is a recording of the speaker, presentation, and closing. You can also watch a ~5 minute version of the highlights! We also wanted to share a recent current event that is very relevant to last week's discussion: a few days ago, Sweden announced that it would be removing its Ministry of Environment (essentially Sweden's EPA) and restructuring it underneath the Ministry of Energy. This move is largely influenced by the need to reallocate funding towards nuclear-energy research, as Europe is facing severe energy shortages due to the Russia-Ukraine War. Sweden was one of the first countries to establish a national EPA, and the country is viewed as a champion for climate change on the world stage. Sweden's reputation indicates that the decision will likely have global repercussions, especially in countries that could follow Sweden's example. If you're interested in tracking these changes with us, or learning more about sustainability and differences between national environmental policies, register for the next Project 17 discussion! The discussion will take place in late November and focus on the SDGs related to the environment (6, 12-15). We hope to see you there!
#Envision2030 Goal 4: Quality Education | United Nations Enable SDG 4 focuses on ensuring that all children have access to free, fair, and high-quality preschool, primary, and higher education, ensuring that all learners will have access to the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. One goal is to increase the number of young people and adults in decent technical occupations, leading to intensified innovation. Other important goals include all young people achieving literacy and numeracy, eliminating gender differences in education, and ensuring that vulnerable groups have equal access to education and vocational training at all levels, and providing a safe, non violent, inclusive and effective learning environment for all. To do this, the UN plans to expand the number of scholarships for students in developing countries to receive higher education, and substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers.
Quality Education In the Fight Against Extreme Poverty Universal and quality education is, indeed, the best way to fight against extreme poverty. Currently, the amount of girls who are out of school equals the population in the United Kingdom and France combined, that is 130 million girls out of school. In order to solve this problem, we need a radical and revolutionary shift in how we treat education and poverty. Some of the most challenging barriers that are in front of us regarding the education problem are: “costs, cultural norms, fear of violence, and security concerns”. Despite these barriers, the benefits of providing quality education to girls, especially in areas with extreme poverty and military, political, and cultural conflicts, can be enormous. For example, simply addressing the quality education gap between the genders in areas with extreme poverty can yield about $112-$152 billion dollars for those developing countries. As a matter of fact, quality education, in the fight against extreme poverty, might be our best option and our most effective weapon.
The global education challenge: Scaling up to tackle the learning crisis The lack of global education can be overcome by incentivizing political leadership to defeat obstacles, as well as requiring new perspectives and approaches. 263 million children worldwide do not have the resources to access an education, resulting in 825 million young people who do not have basic knowledge to obtain a job in this “progressing” society. Women and children are disproportionately affected by this crisis due to gender inequality and the struggle to provide education in refugee camps. Actions and reforms such as bringing education to poorer countries, sustaining high performing political leadership and employing more qualified teachers can allow programs to advance much faster than expected.
Further Reading
Want to learn more? Join us for a discussion to collaborate with students across the world, engage in new perspectives on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and connect with UNA-USA officials and members throughout the country.