DATE / TIME:

2019•10•04    14:00 - 16:00

Location:

Kuala Lumpur

By invitation only

The United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Malaysia is committed to supporting sustainable development aspirations for the Government and the people of Malaysia, leaving no one behind.  Through its individual agencies and specialised funds, the UN in Malaysia also supports coordination of national and international action to protect the rights and well-being of invisible and excluded communities, including refugees and migrants.

The Global Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development seek to end poverty and hunger, realise the human rights of all, achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and ensure the lasting protection of the planet and its natural resources Malaysia adopted the United Nations’ Global Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development in 2016 and has made significant progress towards realisation of the SDGs.

Strengthening local knowledge and expertise from all sectors in Malaysia is critical to support Malaysia’s progress towards providing equitable opportunites for all Malaysians to participate and benefit from economic growth and development irespective of gender, ethnicitiy, socioeconomic status and geographical location. To this end, the UNCT seeks to engage with knowledge experts in Malaysia through a newly developed SDG Academic Network, also known as the UN Academy.

The SDG Academic Network and its work with the UNCT in Malaysia is expected to:

i. Link Knowledge and Research Expertise

The network will link academic institutions, think tanks, practitioners and researchers in Malaysia to the UNCT by providing a channel of communication on specific UN knowledge and evaluation needs, opportunities for research funding and/or collaboration, and priority areas in which the UNCT seeks a broad range of input from network members.

ii. Initiate Feedback

The network will create avenues for the expert community in Malaysia to highlight developments, raise issues, and share evidence related to the advancement of th SDGs in Malaysia.

iii. Build Capacity

The network will seek to build the capacity of its members to engage with and contribute to UN policy processes for sustainable develpoment and to advance the priority and usage of the SDG framework for in Malaysian research institutions. The UNCT in Malaysia may also draw upon expertise in the network to provide training to its staff and partners.

Meeting Objective

This meeting is to convene relevant stakeholders from the Government, as well as academic and research community to set up a Steering Committee for the establishment of the UN Academy in Malaysia.