NYU has begun its transition into a United Nations Millennium Campus, and will be sending student leaders to attend the 8th annual Millennium Campus Conference in Washington DC in 2016. The Millennium Campus Network (MCN) is a non-profit network of university student organizations that aims to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which has now been adopted to become the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs). On Tuesday, Mar. 1, NYU hosted its first event of the transition, “The United Nations Global Initiatives Program: Transitioning from the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Goals.” The event was organized by the NYU Student Senators Council, and co-sponsored by global non-governmental organizations, such as UNICEF, Habitat for Humanity, Amnesty International, and the American Red Cross. The event introduced to attendees the transition from the MDG’s to the SDG’s, and the core aims of each initiative. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was an initiative launched by the United Nations in 2000 after the adoption of the UN Millennium Declaration. The initiative presented eight international developments to be achieved by 2015:

To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

To achieve universal primary education

To promote gender equality and empower women

To reduce child mortality

The improve maternal health

To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

To ensure environmental sustainability

To develop a global partnership for development

Although many of the MDG’s have been met in several countries, progress between countries was uneven. After 2015, the “Post-2015 Development Agenda” was used as a platform to create the framework that would succeed the MDG’s. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiative has now been adopted by several governments, and is officially known as “Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” The proposal for the SDG outlines 17 key objectives to be achieved by 2030, and these goals were officially inducted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in Sept. 2015. Through this event, NYU welcomed the Five Global Campaigns awarded at the UN: Global Oceans, Global Health, Global Peace, Global Equality, and Global Youth. Speakers from and outside of NYU were brought in to give their perspective on the 5 Global Campaigns and their affiliated organizations. Speakers included Emily Nocito from Stony Brook University for Global Oceans, Pedro Piqueras from the University of California for Global Health, Katie Sgarro from the University of Pennsylvania for Global Peace, Donovan Guttieres from Boston University for Global Youth, and Laura-Jane Watkins and Chiara Claassens from the University of Free State for Global Equality.After the speakers, a panel discussion was held where several topics related to making a difference were introduced, such as becoming an agent of change, macro (global) vs. micro-level initiatives and progress, the difference between establishing and revitalizing an organization and its activities, and the importance of resourceful networking. After the panel discussion, several NYU Campus Initiatives that align with the aims of the SDG were introduced, and attendees had the opportunity to find out more about these initiatives to get involved and support. The NYU Campus Initiatives are:

“Share Meals” for SDG 2

“SkillXChange” for SDG 4, 5, 8, 10

“Improving the Supply Chain” for SDG 11, 12

“Return Recycling” for SDG 11, 12

“Habitat for Humanity” for SDG 11, 12

NYU will also be starting a Millennium Development Club to promote the aims of the SDG on campus. It will be exciting to see what NYU’s work towards achieving these goals will grow into in the coming years.

This article was written by Lathika Chandra Mouli . Please send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Creative Commons