There are several ways to engage the displaced and refugee community with the SDGs, including being taught the SDGs, being educated so ones SDG situation improves, or engaging in certain activities which make one want to appreciate the benefits of an SDG(s).
According to political analysts, there are over 4 million refugees living in over 300 refugee camps across Africa. Ashesi recognizes that to make an impact it should focus on only 3-5 refugee camps, which include Kakuma in northern Kenya, Nyarugusu in western Tanzania and Bidibidi in north-western Uganda.
Ashesi also believes that the responsibility should not be borne by only one department and so organically, at Ashesi, Board members, the Admissions team, students, and faculty each play varying roles in relation to the SDGs and refugees. The Admissions team travel to remote select refugee camps in different African countries to recruit through educating on what a quality education (SDG 4) could look like and to offer scholarships (SDG 1) to brilliant refugee students. Board members donate their funds and help set up foundations (SDG 1) to support the engagement and conferences which educate the greater university community in Africa about refugee needs and possibilities in higher education. See here and here.
Academic Affairs through its membership in the Open Society Universities Network consistently offers to hire faculty in refugee situations to teach at Ashesi, offering their families a better life because of the employment. Ashesi strives to implement the SDGs by modeling them and providing others with SDG lived and sustainable experiences.
Our alumni who are interested and talented in entrepreneurship emanating from their Ashesi courses, are taught the SDGs, especially graduates who are awarded fellowships to the Ashesi Venture Incubator (AVI). These AVI fellows are taught skills in sustainability, sustainable development, how to provide employment opportunities and decent work for employees (SDG 8). They are taught to be resilient, through appreciation of failure and to foster innovation to remain novel and relevant (SDG 9).
One AVI fellow, Edel Togobo an Ashesi alum, the founder of Edelicious Lifestyle & Edelicious Farms (Edelicious Network), offers a platform that supports the adoption of healthier eating habits through convenient menu designs, meal prep packages, and fruit delivery services (SDG 2 and 3).
Another AVI fellow and Ashesi alum, Christian Hakizimana the co-founder of Hakikris farms, packages, sells, and delivers top-quality local rice to customers and retail shops in Burundi, East Africa. He aims to bridge the gap between local farmers and the market and, to serve customers with trusted branded local rice in Africa and the world (SDG 2, 3, and 8).See the link for more https://www.nexti2i.com/ashesi-venture-incubator/ and https://www.nexti2i.com/avi-mentorship-recruitment-programme/
Two major SDGs Ashesi teaches its communities and alumni, include SDG 4 (Quality education) and SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth). Our lecturers, including Rebecca Awuah, and some Ashesi recent graduates, in the spirit of national service, model quality teaching to the teachers of our neighboring middle school, when they volunteer in the schools.
Our students must complete 40 hours of community engagement and improvement as one of the graduation requirements at Ashesi. During this period, our students teach the SDGs to various communities without necessarily defining the SDGs. For example, one student spends time empathizing with street children (SDG 1) in our immediate community to build trust before holding conversations on sex education (SDG 3) and the necessary skills for a responsible and productive life. These skills include critical thinking, problem solving skills, leadership, which are all tenets of a quality education (SDG 4). Another student empowers marginalized youth in the community by equipping them with basic IT Literacy, basic reading and writing skills.
Generally, Ashesi University is known in the community as a model of quality education, and it is our intent and the community’s desire that we impact them with sustainable development.
