The UNAI global hub for sustainability of KazNU named after al-Farabi is 10 years old
On March 2, 2021, a round table "The role of youth within the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in the Decade of Action" was held at KazNU named after al-Farabi. Representatives of the UNESCO Chair, International Journalism and Public Relations Professor, Doctor of Political Science, Honorary Director of the UNAI Global Hub for Sustainability Galiya Ibraeva, Professor, Doctor of Philology, Head of the Department. Nazgul Shyngysova took part in the event.
The creation of the UNAI Global Hub began with the idea-slogan of the ex-UN Secretary General, outstanding diplomat Ban Ki-moon: "The UN is us!" He considered this slogan to be relevant for student youth, universities and the intellectual academic community. In 2010, he created the UN Academic Impact (UNAI) program in 10 main areas.
Thanks to the professor of KazNU, as well as the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN Akmaral Kaydarovna Arystanbekova, a letter of appeal was prepared, the necessity of KazNU participation in the program was substantiated.
In 2011, the rector organized a visit of a university delegation to the United States, and Kazakh scientists visited not only the country's outstanding universities in Washington, New York, San Francisco, but also the World Bank, the Library of the United States Congress, the United Nations, and others. At the UN headquarters in New York, we met with the director of the UNAI hub, Ramu Damodaran.
During the conversation, Ramu suggested that the university hold an important international conference, and our university coped with this task brilliantly. and then KazNU took an active part in the UN International Forum on Sustainable Development RIO + 20.
The university also began active cooperation with the MDP Global Classroom program on sustainable development at Columbia University with the support of Professor Rafis Abazov and Columbia University scientists such as D. McCarthur, Jeffrey Sachs and others.
Since 2011, KazNU students have regularly visited the UN headquarters every year, which has become a powerful stimulus for them for their education and career. Many of the graduates of our program entered the best universities in the United States, defended their dissertations in PhD and now work in Kazakhstan.
We have done a great job to attract the universities of Kazakhstan and Central Asia to the UNAI program and its activities. UNAI centers appeared in more than 20 universities of the country, which made it possible to expand the influence of the program in the regions of Kazakhstan.
The program also actively worked to create friendly contacts with foreign Global Hubs of the UNAI program. Teleconferences with university students from such countries as Bangladesh, Great Britain, France, and the USA were held repeatedly.
Representatives of the UNAI KazNU hub spoke about the university's projects under the "Green Bridge through Generations" program, the participation of scientists in the EXPO-2017 international exhibition, as well as student projects in the field of sustainable development.
Today, the youth of the countries of South and Central Asia takes an active part in achieving development goals, takes active initiatives, and assumes leadership responsibility. The youth of our countries is an important resource for changes in society, and higher educational institutions help young people to achieve their goals.
This year marks 10 years since KazNU became the UNAI Global Hub, this is an excellent occasion to once again thank the entire team on the anniversary date.
This fall, our department plans to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the UNAI Global Hub for Sustainability. It is planned to hold a scientific conference with the invitation of representatives of the UN and the UNAI hub, ex-UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and it is also planned to publish a scientific journal.
Honorary Director of the UNAI Global Hub for Sustainable Development of Al-Farabi KazNU
Professor, Doctor of Political Sciences Ibraeva Galiya
