Mandela University’s Centre for Law in Action in the Law Faculty was the unit which was selected for the grant, used for implementing activities to strengthen the role of higher education institutions in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, particular SDG 16, in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and the Seychelles. Read more about the awarding of the grant.
“We are happy that we can move this grants programme forward particularly knowing the impact COVID-19 has on higher education institutions around the world” says Prof Hennie van As, Director of the Centre.
The responsibility of preparing the next generation to become tomorrow’s fulfilled citizens, policymakers and leaders is one that the UNODC’s E4J initiative takes very seriously. UN Secretary-General, António Guterres made his 2020 Secretary-General Award in the category ‘Innovation’ to this project for directly engaging children, youth, teachers and academics.
E4J’s starting premise is that the understanding of rule of law, in all its parameters, must be holistic and inclusive. With technology, teaching tools, outreach, and partnerships, and by working with thousands of educators, academics and students all over the world, E4J has reimagined and reinvented the ways through which students can best absorb the lessons that will help them navigate to a peaceful life, empowering them to be engaged members of their communities.
Technological innovations have also played a big part in the dissemination of E4J’s educational approach on a wider scale, such as mobile apps, hackathons, comic books and cartoons, creating innovative apps for real-life problems and triggering their creativity as they consider how to make the world a better place.
University students, can delve into some of the top priorities in terms of crime prevention and criminal justice, with over 100 modules that professors can integrate into courses in any field.
At all education levels, the purpose of E4J’s material is to make youth feel invested in their learning process and confident about their current and future roles in their communities.
Importantly, to improve the accessibility of its teaching resources, E4J has already produced over 300 translations of its materials into over 15 languages, making them accessible to a growing number of educators and students worldwide, including marginalised groups such as indigenous people and children in refugee camps.