Stories

SDG5 is the strong impluse behind the projects of Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens

“The active engagement and empowerment of the youth and women are critical in ensuring the success and sustainability of the international community.” – Ban Ki-moon

06.02.2020.

Some teams have this unbelievable passion for their projects so that everyone working with them feels energized and drawn to that same feeling. Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens in Vienna team is one just like that. Among others, their projects and efforts with the SDG5 topic inspire us, and we are sure they will inspire you, too. Meet them:

About the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens

“We must do more to engage and empower women and youth as they are the enablers to achieve our sustainable development and climate goals. By doing so, we can help unlock their unbridled potential as the agents of change and dynamic global citizens of tomorrow.” – Ban Ki-moon

Co-chaired by Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Heinz Fischer, former President of the Republic of Austria, the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens is a quasi-international organization working to empower women and youth in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Why women?

Half the world is women.  Yet, all around the world, in every country, women and girls still struggle to exercise their full human rights, even to be seen as full human beings. Violence against women and girls is perhaps the most obvious manifestation of the deep imbalances in power in our societies, and the vulnerabilities and limitations that follow them, especially for the most marginalized, and especially in crisis contexts when vulnerabilities are at their peak and protections at their lowest point. Defending women's and girls’ rights means understanding and addressing these effects holistically.

“Achieving gender equality requires the engagement of women and men, girls and boys. It is everyone’s responsibility. Equality for women is progress for all.” – Ban Ki-moon, BKMC Co-chair

Hence, the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens implements various projects and programs focused on SDG 5 to empower women to live in a peaceful and prosperous world based on universal respect for human rights and global citizenship.

Women’s Empowerment Program (WEP)

The Ban Ki-moon Centre’s Women’s Empowerment Program (WEP) is a unique, two-weeks long fellowship offered to young women leaders to strengthen their capacities in various fields and become change-makers for sustainable development.

After two weeks of intensive training on women’s empowerment, justice and corruption, climate action, leadership and negotiation skills, the SDGs and global citizenship, the WEP fellows are asked to implement their own SDG Micro-Projects and participate in webinar-style conference calls with incentive speakers to continue and multiply the impact.

“I have not only learned about women’s empowerment: I have learned to pitch, I have learned about climate change, I have learned about the SDGs and capacity-building. But most importantly, I got to meet so many amazing women!” – Soksovankessor Sambath, WEP Fellow of 2019

Rising Beyond Stigma: Empowering Stand-Alone Mothers in Korea

Social stigmata pose barriers for individuals to unfold their full potential to be agents of change for sustainable development. The Ban Ki-moon Centre is keen on rectifying the injustice that stigmatization causes by raising awareness for the stigmata that particularly women and youth are confronted with.

In 2019 and 2020, the Ban Ki-moon Centre focused on the stigma that stand-alone mothers in South Korea are confronted with. Due to misconceptions about them, Korean unwed mothers tend to be more exposed to violence, sexual assault, and unfair treatment in society.

In order to help them to rise beyond stigma, the BKMC, together with its partners, organized various events and initiatives aiming to raise awareness of the unjust living standards of stand-alone mothers and their children in Korea and empower stand-alone mothers not only as mothers but also as women by regaining self-confidence.

AMAZING OPPORTUNITY

The Ban Ki-moon Centre is inviting you to check out their online course on “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment – A Pathway towards Sustainable Development” that they are launching on February 21st.

"This is an open and self-paced online course which gives learners deep insights into the importance of and challenges in reaching SDG 5. The lecture, discussion and interview videos of world leaders and advocates such as UN Women’s Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Youth Envoy Jayathma Wickramanayake, and other stellar experts from different sectors and countries will guide learners on the various ways to be an effective Global Citizen and showcase best practices. The online course will be launched on the GCED Online campus and interested individuals are encouraged to register via http://www.gcedonlinecampus.org/_HTML/closed_course_view.php?id=40." informed us from the BKMC team.

Learn more about the Ban Ki-moon Centre

https://bankimooncentre.org/

Stand-Alone Mothers Project: © Ban Ki-moon Centre
WEP: © Ban Ki-moon Centre / Eugénie Berger

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