GEEF

Background and Rationale

Rationale

Desertification and land degradation rapidly and severely destabilize lives and livelihoods. Knowing the immense potential of productive land for food-, water- and human- security, the international community is intensifying its efforts towards achieving a land degradation-neutral world by 2030.
How could such efforts best complement the ongoing engagement of the North and the South Koreas to build long-term peace and cross-border understanding and cooperation?
And how could such efforts can overcome impending barriers, including the sanction of the United Nations Security Council against the North Korea?

After briefly reviewing current situation in the North-east Asia in general and the North Korea in particular, the panelists will be invited to talk on the hot issues related to land degradation, desertification, sustainable land management, ecosystem protection, watershed management, drought disasters and reforestation in the DPRK and the NEA.

Panelists, representing each party (the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, The the South Korean Government, the MoLEP of North Korea (proxy), the World Agroforestry Center (implementing Agency), Future Forest( NGO as Funding Agency) and UN ESCAP, present its respective position, followed by an interactive discussion.

Finally, Panel forges out practical measures/approaches/solution and produces possible recommendations and suggests other bilateral and multilateral cooperation agreements or partnerships under the strategic framework of the UNCCD on land degradation neutrality, 15.3 target of the UN SDGs

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Session Schedule

13:30~13:35 (5’)

Moderator : Joon Oh, Board Chair, Save the Children Korea / Former Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations

13:35~13:50 (15’)

Keynote Speech - Children in Conflict : Yanghee Lee, Professor at Sungkyunkwan University / United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar

13:50~14:20 (30’)

Panel 1) Current Trends in Grave Violations toward Children : Patrick Watt, Global Campaign, Advocacy and Communications Director, Save the Children International
Panel 2) Children in The Middle East and Africa : Hassan Noor Saadi, Regional Director of Asia, Save the Children International
Panel 3) Rohingya children in Asia, fleeing abuse and death : Khin Ohmar, Co-President of Progressive Voices, Democracy activist

14:20~15:00 (45’)

Moderator : Discussion

Session Rationale

The motivation for this parallel session is the recognition of the worrying trends for the safety and well-being of children living in areas affected by conflicts. The number of children affected by conflicts has increased by more than 75 percent from the early 1990s when it was around 200 million, to more than 357 million children in 2016. This means one out of five children in today’s world lives in conflict-affected areas.

Parties in all conflicts are obliged to uphold international law to protect children. However, the rules are often violated and children affected by conflicts are vulnerable to starvation, injury, exploitation and even death. Therefore, failure to protect children in conflicts is one of the most critical issues of our time and needs to be addressed urgently.

Reviewing the current situation of children in conflict-affected areas and discussing what it will take for the governments, media, and NGOs to do more would be significant for making progress in our common endeavours for peace and prosperity in the whole world.

Background

“Every war is a war on children.” These words were written by Eglantyne Jebb, who founded Save the Children in 1919 in the aftermath of World War I. One hundred years on, children caught up in the turmoil and anguish of conflicts continue to be treated in ways running counter to our common humanity.

The number of children living in conflict-affected areas has increased by more than 75 per cent from the early 1990s when it was around 200 million, to more than 357 million children in 2016 -165 million of these children are affected by high-intensity conflicts. In 2017, one child in every five lived in areas impacted by conflicts – up from one in six two years earlier. Not only is the number of children living in conflicts rising, but children are more at risk of harm than at any point in the last 20 years.

The nature of modern conflicts has been changing, with more conflicts in densely populated areas and more warring parties taking increasingly excessive action every year, which poses more danger for children. Children are routinely exposed to violence in their homes, on the streets, even when they’re at school. Many children are routinely subjected to violence, including killing, maiming, and sexual violence. There has been an escalation in the number of UN-verified cases of killing and maiming of children, with an increase of nearly 300 per cent since 2010. Children in conflicts are living through horrors with devastating and life-changing consequences. The psychological impact on the children is profound and can lead to a vicious cycle, in which the next generation struggles to rebuild peaceful societies following the trauma of violence.

Children in conflict-affected areas should be given three things: safety, justice and the practical help they need to stay safe and for recovery. Every government must ensure that no arms are sold to the parties which violate international law and harm children and that the perpetrators of crimes against children are brought to criminal justice both domestically and internationally. Governments also must provide children victims in conflicts with necessary help so that they can safely go through recovery and rehabilitation.

Session Objectives

• Review the current situation of violation of children’s rights in conflict-affected areas
• Discuss what is needed to uphold the international rules and norms and what it will take for the governments and peoples of the world to address the violations committed against children
• Identify the role of civil society and the media to protect children in conflicts, with a focus on how to enhance awareness in countries such as Korea on conflict issues in general and children in conflicts in particular
• Share best cases of providing support for children victims of conflicts, and discuss what governments and civil society can do more to meet the needs of children in dire conditions

Panel of the Session

Moderator:
Joon Oh, Board Chair, Save the Children Korea
Former Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations

Keynote Speaker:
Yanghee Lee, Professor at Sungkyunkwan University
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
Former Chairperson of UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

Panellists:

• Patrick Watt, Global Campaign, Advocacy and Communications Director, Save the Children International
  Share the current violation of children’s rights in conflict-affected areas and discuss what more major world powers and civil society can do to stop the war on children
• Hassan Noor Saadi, Regional Director of Asia, Save the Children International
  Humanitarian perspectives and years of hands on experiences working on the ground for the most deprived children in complex emergencies
• Khin Ohmar, Co-President of Progressive Voices, Democracy activist
  Share children’s rights situation in Myanmar and Southern Asia and discuss what it will take for the world to listen when atrocities are committed against children

Detailed Contents

Keynote Speech – Children in Conflict

- Yanghee Lee, Professor at Sungkyunkwan University / United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar

Overall worrying trend of increased brutality against children in conflict zones, and call for international communities to fulfil the promise to the next generation.

The number of children verified by the UN as killed or maimed has risen drastically last 10 years and one in six children live in conflict zones and 357 million live at risk of grave violations. Attacks on what should be safe place by international laws and standards are becoming normal with reported incidents having roughly doubled in the last decade.

Every child has rights to be respected and lives in peace. International communities have agreed to accomplish UN SDGs to build a better world where all children live, learn and thrive in peace. Reviewing international laws and standards, suggesting practical recommendations for states and non-state actors to stop the war on children.

• Overall conflict trends and current situation of children in conflict affected areas during recent 20 years
• The trend of an escalation in the number of UN verified cases of killing and maiming of children with an increase of nearly 300 percent since 2010
• International laws and standards to protect civilians and an increase of the number of incidents of denial of humanitarian access
• The roles for states and non-state actors to make progress to protect children

Panellists

1) Current Trends in Grave Violations toward Children
Patrick Watt, Global Campaign, Advocacy and Communications Director, Save the Children International

Share the current violation of children’s rights in conflict-affected areas and discuss what more major world powers and civil society can do to stop the war on children. Introduce practical and actionable recommendations to protect children being put at risk.

• The trend of the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas and the role of international communities and states.
• International laws and standards all states should endorse and implement (i.e. Safe School Declaration)
• The role of states and non-state actors to prevent the use of explosive weapon fatal to children, and recommendations to control arms
• A need for stronger political will and pressure to ensure that ICC, international tribunals and other mechanisms focus on crimes against children

2) Children in The Middle East and Africa
Hassan Noor Saadi, Regional Director of Asia, Save the Children International

Humanitarian perspectives and years of hands on experiences working on the ground for the most deprived children in complex emergencies. Focus on the fates of children living in what are tanked as the most dangerous conflict-affected countries: Syria, South Sudan and Somalia.

• Overall picture and marked trend of conflict and grave violations against children in Eastern Africa region (Somalia, South Sudan) and Middle East region (Syria) (i.e. attacks on schools and hospitals, abduction, killing and maiming of children, and so forth)
• Case studies focusing on humanitarian action for conflict-affected children
• The role of international community to sustain effective humanitarian action

* Rohingya children’s rights situation in Myanmar & refugee camps can be dealt with in the panel discussion and Q&A session

3) Rohingya children in Asia, fleeing abuse and death
Khin Ohmar, Co-President of Progressive Voices, Democracy activist

Children’s rights situation in Myanmar and Southern Asia and discuss what it will take for the world to listen when atrocities are committed against children

• Refugee children’s rights situation in Southern Asia including Rohingya crisis
• The scale of violations against Rohingya children and impact of violence on these children (i.e. the long-term effects of trauma)
• International efforts to prevent any other would-be crisis

Rationale

The motivation for this parallel session is the recognition of the critical need and opportunity to begin transforming the biomedical R&D system to adequately meet global health needs. There is growing appreciation that to successfully ensure access to medicines, policy must focus not only on medicines after they have been developed, but also work to make the R&D innovation system itself respond and be accountable to public need. Striving for a fair social return from publicly incentivized and supported research, empowered citizens, researchers, scientists and government officials can join forces to build R&D models that deliver more needs-driven innovation, accessible to all for greater health and prosperity.

Background

The Republic of Korea (RoK) has long been discussed as a bulwark of publicly-minded access to medicines policies in Asia. Over the past decades, driven by a sense of social equity and a drive to re-distribute the fruits of economic development to its citizens, the ROK has put in place important policy elements helping to ensure that Koreans have access to the medicines they need, at affordable prices. These measures include stringent criteria for drug market approval, including evaluation of added therapeutic value, cost efficiency, and budget impact, and a strong drug pricing control system, supported by a positive drug list, mandatory lowering of prices and negotiations. Combined with a comprehensive national health insurance system, these measures have allowed Korea to achieve what has been enshrined as Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3), universal health coverage.

To date, much of Korea’s success has hinged on the extensive availability of locally-produced, affordable generic medicines. Over the last twenty years, the South Korean government’s medicines pricing and industrial policies sought to specifically create, sustain, and help steer a domestic pharmaceutical sector that worked to meet and address Korean public health needs – a unique example of the private sector largely working for public good, rather than only for profit.

Today, South Korea is at a fork in the road. The situation is rapidly evolving as the country seeks to position itself as a leader in biomedical innovation. The South Korean government has set out a goal to become a top-7 pharmaceutical leader by 2020, designating this industry as ROK’s next economic engine. The government is supporting this ambition with significant and growing amounts of public funds, estimated to be over $2 billion in 2019. Responding to government priorities, the Korean pharmaceutical industry is quickly transitioning from a generic-based, domestic-focused model, to an R&D-centered export-driven model.

Over the coming months and years, state priority setting and decision-making will determine whether the South Korean government maintains the collective values which have guided pro-patient, public-oriented policy development over the last 25 years, creating a new type of public leadership in the biomedical R&D space. These decisions will have significant impact on public health and access to medicines not only in Korea, but also in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) throughout the world, as the Korean government’s stated plan specifically looks to export medicines to LMICs in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Korean policymaking will also have direct impact on how Thailand, Malaysia and other (transitioning) countries move to develop their own approaches to incentivize and structure biomedical R&D and related public access strategies.

Copying the current R&D model is unlikely to deliver on Korea’s vision of innovation for greater social good. Prevailing R&D approaches largely fail to target priority health needs and deliver breakthrough drugs needed for such threats as AMR or XDRTB. The system delivers too many me-too drugs, which bring no added therapeutic value to patients. It also brings to market blockbusters drugs, which have been at least partially financed and incentivized with public funding, but are priced out of reach for patients and finite national insurance budgets. Although the public and non-profit sectors are major contributors to financing and conducting R&D, with up to 70% of investment coming from public sources (e.g. all of the 210 medicines approved by the US FDA between 2010 and 2016 had received some amount of public funding), this contribution is not widely-recognized nor reflected in the way medicines are brought to market. Secrecy, lack of data-sharing and legal barriers to follow-on research make the system slower and less efficient than it should be, stifling true innovation. Publicly-available information on safety and efficacy is too often inadequate.

The global R&D system is a complex, multi-billion dollar global system with many powerful players and entrenched interests at stake. It has evolved to be governed primarily by market forces, with public actors and policies often failing to pro-actively or adequately intervene to ensure that the system serves the public interest. For example, governments have not set clear priorities for R&D, many do not intervene on pricing, and those that fund R&D have generally not made public R&D financing conditional on affordability guarantees or data-sharing. In summary, individual governments at national level – and governments collectively at the global level – have not fulfilled their responsibilities to make the R&D system work in the public interest.

Supported by empowered patients and advocates, and informed citizens, the Korean government has an opportunity to take the lead in forging a different model that delivers greater prosperity for all. A series of timely processes offer opportunities in the coming months to begin moving towards shaping a new model:

- President Moon has introduced a healthcare reform plan to address the financial burden of co-payments and impose stronger control of non-reimbursable medical expenses. He is also trying to foster an environment where new medicinal products do not take into account profitability only, but also social value, with technology rooted in social needs, including the need for healthier citizens.

- Intensive Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations will continue to take place over the coming months. Without pushback, RCEP, to which ROK is party, risks boxing in the ROK into entrenching for its own industry a business model, which extensively relies on IP and the prospect of extorting monopolistic drug prices for medicines, distorting R&D priorities away from public needs.

- Increased exchanges between the two Koreas have set the ground for sectoral exchanges, including on public health and medicines. Developing some public production capacity to produce off-patent medicines, which companies refuse to supply in the South due to comparatively lower profit prospects than in less-well-regulated countries, and provide medicines for the North could be a valuable step. An example of a successful public pharmaceutical production capacity in Korea, could also motivate other governments to consider this option and create a momentum at a time where similar discussions are crystallizing in the US (in the face of unaffordable insulin prices) and the EU (Spain on CAR-T).

Objectives

• Share South Korea’s public-oriented, fair and comprehensive approach to ensuring medicines access in the country.
• Identify and reinforce the collective values, which have allowed South Korea to put in place and implement a progressive medicines policy.
• Stimulate reflection on how to meet the formidable challenges in the current R&D system, with a focus on how South Korean leadership can stake out an alternative pathway, that advances people’s health as a top priority.
• Consider global experience in promoting fair public return on public biomedical innovation.

Rationale

The International Young Scholars' Perspectives: Spotlight on National Initiatives for the SDGs aims to provide a platform for academic knowledge-sharing and discussion on research related to the SDGs. The SDGs as a whole are a new field of study, and thus all 17 goals require in-depth and evidence-based research. There is also a need for much academic exchange across different fields and countries to further enhance the individual efforts as well as overall pool of work. The International Young Scholars' Perspectives: Spotlight on National Initiatives for the SDGs has significance as the first session on paper presentations held at GEEF. Abstracts were gathered through a Call for Papers, with applicants from diverse backgrounds, including professional researchers, young scholars, and practitioners. The finalists were chosen through a blind review in order to select the most outstanding proposals with the most potential for exemplary accomplishment. It is hoped that these sessions will lead to both the advancement of the research on these topics and a clearer direction for their practical applications

Abstracts

Revitalizing Global Partnerships for Sustainable Development: A Focus on Korea’s Bilateral Knowledge Sharing Programs (KSP) from 2005-2018

Hye Yong Kim

When it comes to offering suggestions as to the policies, programs, and projects in development cooperation, it is essential to note the socioeconomic conditions of the partner countries. Moreover, it is important to utilize the comparative advantages of all partner countries to achieve synergy in development cooperation. The Republic of Korea has been ensuring these when the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, previously known as the Ministry of Finance and Economy, launched its Knowledge Sharing Program (KSP) in 2004 with the aims of sharing Korea’s experience and knowledge in industrialization, democratization, and development, and to assist partner countries in lessening the knowledge divide and to support their development efforts (KSP website, accessed October 14, 2018).

With the SDG #17 being “Revitalizing the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development,” knowledge-intensive development programs flow in various directions, whether that be North-South, South-South, or OECD DAC member country to partner country and more. While Korea aims to successfully implement its role as a responsible member of the international community and to contribute to the global development efforts, this paper aims to answer the question: to what extent has Korea’s bilateral KSP policy consultations contributed to SDG #17? This paper will study Korea’s bilateral consultations from December 2005 to July 2018 – a total of 235 policy consultations published on the KSP website – and observe how Korea contributes to SDG #17. Consequently, it aims to take the following steps to answer the research question: (1) identify the objectives and standards of offering KSP to a country and an industry, (2) observe the patterns and trends of KSP, and (3) conduct a feasibility study on the KSP offered to that country and industry and identify whether it has been utilized efficiently or will be utilized effectively. Finally, (4) the above steps together with the specific targets of SDG #17 will be compared and contrasted to evaluate whether Korea’s bilateral KSP policy consultations contribute to the goal.


An expert-based assessment of the potential for local people involvement in nature conservation in the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique

Aires Afonso Mbanze, Natasha Ribeiro and José Lima Santo

Implementation of new conservation measures and adoption of external actions from elsewhere without consistent consultation and systematic assessment, evaluation and proposal steps, have resulted in multiple fails that have been replicated unnecessarily with wasted resources implications.

In this study, we propose and test a novel method to identify: (i) the role of all conservation-relevant actors, including local people, in major threats to conservation in a particular protected area, (ii) the underlying drivers for the involvement of local people in conservation-threatening practices and (iii) an appropriate policy-mix to address these drivers.

The method takes stoke of experts’ opinion who are aware of the situation in the protected area under study. This method is developed and tested in the context of the Niassa National Reserve (NNR), in Mozambique, a major protected area in Africa for the conservation of Miombo savannah woodlands and lions. Respondents’ answers were analysed through Principal Component (PC) and Cluster methods to group them according to opinions in relation to threats, current and new proposed compensation schemes that can be implemented to improve conservation in NNR. Relationships between the opinions of respondents and their socio-economic profile were also tested based on Fisher’s Exact and Post Hoc tests.

Results show high degree of consensus among respondents in relation to the current practices that represent the top threats to conservation in the reserve, including poaching, illegal mining and shifting cultivation. Lower degrees of consensus were found with regards to more moderate threats. Local people were held responsible for those activities they need to undertake to cope with their daily needs, most of them, except shifting cultivation, not being identified as top threats. On the other hand, outsiders carrying out illegal activities, such as poaching, were held responsible for practices representing the top threats to conservation, with local people acting as supporters of these outsiders’ activities.

New proposed in-kind incentives that help local people to adopt environmentally-friendly cultivation practices, such as provide them with alternative sources of animal protein and provide local young people study opportunities (scholarships) would greatly improve the conservation status of biodiversity currently under threat and would also raise the awareness of local people. Responsibilities of actors in relation to the activities that threat conservation, were well distinguished with cluster analysis, which can be used to tackle each responsible with different policy measures.

Sustainable Finance Implementation in Emerging Markets: developments and challenges in Indonesia

Taridi Kasbi Ridho

Purpose –The paper intends to describe the developments and challenges of implementing the sustainable finance practices in an emerging country as part of important role played by finance sector companies in the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Many believed that sustainable finance practice that considered multi aspect of economic, social, and environmental risk and return would deliver more benefits to wider stakeholders than traditional finance that emphasis only on financial risk and return. The implementation of sustainable finance would enable finance companies to maximize their role as a catalysator for creation of environmentally friendly investment and fair economical social system to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) more effectively. In addition, the companies would also gain several additional benefits of stronger company’s resilience, green financial product and services domination, access to cheaper from global green financial market, better company reputation, as well as cost reduction through efficiency in many areas. Indonesian Financial Service Authority (FSA) had launched a Roadmap for Sustainable Finance 2014-2019, then followed by the issuance of Indonesian FSA regulation in 2017 on Sustainable Finance Implementation for Finance Service Institutions, Issuer, and Listed Companies with the objective to increase sustainable finance supply and increase risk management and disclosure.

Design/methodology/approach – This research will observe finance companies which were included in the 200 top listed companies in Indonesia, measured by their revenues, for the three consecutive years of 2014, 2015, and 2016. Secondary data will be gathered from 2014, 2015, and 2016 company’s annual report, company’s CSR/sustainability report, and on-line CSR information on company’s web site. Measurement of sustainable finance implementation of each company is conducted by employing content analysis of those reports using SDG Compass which links the SDGs with GRI (Global Reporting Initiative). Descriptive analysis will be employed to understand the sustainable finance implementation across different companies. Deeper explanation will also be provided by conducting qualitative analysis to several Indonesian banks that had implemented FSA regulation on sustainable finance in the recent years.

Research limitations– As this research will be focus on Indonesian listed finance companies, more research is needed to include companies that have participated in sustainable finance implementation but have not listed in the Indonesian stock exchange.

Originality/value – Current research on sustainable finance in emerging economies in general and specially in Indonesia is still limited. This paper will enrich the understanding of sustainable finance implementation by private sector in developing countries especially in Indonesia context

* The International Young Scholars' Perspectives: Spotlight on National Initiatives for the SDGs is supported by Samsonite through the Samsonite Travel Grants awarded to presenters traveling from abroad.

Rationale

The motivation for this parallel session is to awaken the awareness of the world for the importance of students’ participation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Nowadays, humanity faced a new level of challenge throughout the world. These are difficult to overcome with the solutions we have in the current society, but rather require those which are revolutionary and interdisciplinary. There has been a consensus, in the various agents of the international society, that it is important that all societies need to recognize the critical need on SDGs and this will contribute to the entire humanity. Yonsei University students are making a lot of efforts to lead this global trend and contribute to the Republic of Korea and the international community.

Youth Participation introduces student organizations at Yonsei University that realize SDGs at home and abroad for values of the future mankind. They pursue new levels of contribution in the field of addressing poverty, the environment, education, and health care in a creative and professional way. Their vision for sustainable human development requires sincere support and attention.

Objectives

• Acknowledge the present global issues in the field of poverty, climate, education and medical service at the level of humanity
• Introducing Yonsei university representative of youth groups engaging in social service.
• Receive feedbacks from global mentors in order to seek for progressive and improving ways for the group.
• Promotion for the break through of global issues that can be achieved not by Youth endeavors but only by bigger scale supports

BIOGRAPHY

1. Moderator

• Sam Okyere | A television personality in South Korea (TBC)

2. Panelists

• Arrey Obenson | Secretary General of the Junior Chamber International
  
  
• Michael Sheldrick | Vice President, Global Policy and Government Affairs at Global Citizen
  
  
• Jihye, Yang | Vice President of Student Environmental Group “Yongreen
  
  
• Sohyun, An | 3rd Year Undergraduate, Culture and Design Management and International Studies at Yonsei University
  Contents Planner, Communicator, Project Manager
  Leader of Team YeS
  
  
• JinHyuk, Lee | CEO of NPO “Rhythm of Hope”.
  4th Year Undergraduate, Social Welfare Department at Yonsei University
  Film director, Social worker. Documentary producer.
  
  
• HyungWon, Suh | 4th Year Undergraduate, Underwood Division Economics & Political Science at Yonsei University
  Researcher of Jeongdam
  Program Manager, Social Activist, Designer
  
  
• Karamatdinova Perizat | Member of Medical Volunteering club “Uichung”
  3rd Year Undergraduate, Nursing Department at Yonsei University
  
  
• HoHyeong, Lee | Leader of “YMDU”
  3rd Year Undergraduate, College of Education at Yonsei University

3. Discussion

Yongreen

Since the adoption of the 2016 Paris Agreement, 175 Parties agreed to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the rise in global temperature well below 2 degrees celsius. As the member of the Paris Agreement, Republic of Korea has devised and implemented many policies regarding infrastructure for lower carbon emission, and also formulated various industrial guidelines. Although we fully understand and realize that the government and the public sector’s role is crucial, we believe that the general public’s interest and awareness of the environmental problems are also essential for the robust development of the green communities in South Korea.

“Yongreen”, as a leading environment club in Yonsei University, have embarked on various activities to mitigate the climate change in university and at local level: green campus awareness campaigns and local/community education. Through our green education toward every level of students - middle, high school students, and university students – and continuous environment campaigns in and out of school, we aim to increase the “climate literacy” among young people and decrease the carbon emission and the increment of the wastes in the universities and local communities.

Team YeS

Meet Team YeS, a project group of four Yonsei undergraduates that tackles the social problem of urban littering. We have one aim: to enhance the public’s level of environmental awareness through the gamification of garbage management. We strive to achieve a trash-free world through our creative solution, “YeSKit,” a set of eco-friendly tools and kits devised to create a world free from overflowing waste. We envision a greener Seoul unfettered by the the burdens caused by ill-managed trash disposal.

The core of Team YeS chimes in with that of SDG 12 in that it entrusts the public and corporates with the responsibility to change their daily patterns in a way that builds a better world. Rather than taking up a macro-approach of creating and institutionalizing the urban infrastructure, we believe in incentivizing the individual citizen to lead a better lifestyle themselves. Team YeS believes in the power of the individual as the changemaker.

Rhythm of Hope

There is "Rhythm of Hope", a non-profit organization in Korea. It started in 2014 with a Yonsei University's student media volunteer club. Rhythm of Hope has been founded by talented artists who kept considering ways to contribute to society. Their major project is to create fund-raising contents(scenario preparation, video production, etc.) on behalf of small social welfare institutions, hospitals and local governments that cannot afford to hire professional personnel. After creating the fund-raising content, They launch an online campaign in Korea and transfer all donated fund to beneficiaries without any additional charge. Rhythm of Hope has been successfully raised 171 online funds in Korea so far. The total amount raised was $ 1.13 million.

In last year, They received an exceptional request for aid from the Quang Nam Charity Association in Vietnam. The Quang Nam Charity Association is a charity organization that works for Quang Nam region. Upon hearing an urgent request for help, they prepared airfare and accommodation expenses from thier organization's budget and visited Vietnam to take picture/video in August and produced fund-raising contents. Rhythm of Hope is established to construct the last social safety net with a media volunteer.

JeongDam

We want THE citizens: 'Jeongdam' is a non-profit organization that seeks to provide students with the Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC).

Despite the global consensus on the importance of the EDC, the public education of Korea has yet to meet its demands, and young Koreans grew up to be given responsibilities and rights which they are unacquainted with. This organization, responding to the needs of a quality EDC in Korea, designs EDC programs to equip the future generations with the experience and the power to become the autonomous participants of a democratic society.

We design to learn FUN: Jeongdam dedicates to creating a new form of EDC.

Through the gamification of EDC, we pursue an independent learning and a practical real-life experience of the students. The students while they play the game will unconsciously find interest in solving the problems of the society and grab a sense of how the democracy functions in the real life.

We reach ALL: Jeongdam includes all young Koreans.

Providing a quality EDC is important, but what’s more important is providing a quality EDC to all youths. No matter where they live, whether they be inside school or outside school, all youths should be and will be equally provided with quality EDC through this project. We plan to reach all possible young Koreans we can; beyond the schools and all over the country.

Discussion

With the belief that the education is the foundation to all SDGs and that the EDC in particular is the stepping stone for the establishment of justice and democratic peace in the world, Jeongdam would like to present following agendas for the discussion.

- Review the current EDC and other democratic citizenship related projects of the different countries - Build a recognition and an awareness on the importance of the quality EDC

- Share the visions on the global cooperation to promote a democratic citizenship through the education, especially that of the young generations

- Propose other complementary approaches to enhance a democratic citizenship of the youths along with the EDC

Uichung

WHO made the “Alma-Ata Declaration” in The International Conference on Primary Health Care. This declaration promotes “Health for all the people of the world”. The ninth Global Conference on Health Promotion, based on Alma-Ata declaration, took place in Shanghai, in 2016. It was decided to promote health to achieve SDGs from that time.

Uichung is medical volunteering club, including students of Medical and Nursing departments. We are trying to achieve the SDG Goal 3. Therefore, we are working with foreign workers, homeless people, and elderly people living alone who need health care. We do check vital signs, make health assessment, and educate patients (our objects) and other people, help to improve mental health, assist in providing clothes, food and medicine. We bring out conditions of patients and discuss what kind of education we should provide to them, what we can do to give them motivation to be healthy. We are interacting with a doctor, who helps us to make a correct diagnosis. Therefore, we can provide accurate care.

Moreover, SDG Goal 3 tells that everyone should have good health. Nowadays the health status of refugees has become a big issue. Basic health care is provided for them, but it is difficult to cure mental health of refugees. We are going to discuss what can do students to solve this problem

YMDU

One distinct characteristic of South Korea is that educational, social, and cultural assets are overly focused in capital cities. Recognizing this as an urgent social problem, “Yonsei Hope Expedition” was organized in order to help reduce such gap as university students, relating to the 10th SDG, “Reduce inequality within and among countries.”

Such project has been going on for 14 semesters now, and I believe that we have indeed made certain differences. However, I believe that our project can expand to reducing inequalities not only within our country, but among countries as well, just like the goal of the 10th SDG. Yonsei Hope Expedition is not limited to educational material and it does not have restrictions on the programs. Therefore, I believe that it has the full potential to reduce inequalities among countries and I sincerely hope that we could reach out to other countries as well.

Rationale

Throughout our history, new technologies have revolutionized the way cities and their societies are planned and functioned. Since the late 18th century, new industrial revolution has moved European cities from a medieval urban structure to an industrial city model. City walls have been removed, and railways became major means of transport. By the turn of the 20th century, the introduction of steel, concrete and automobiles had brought massive changes to urban design, systems and processes. This has resulted in central business districts, high-rise buildings, sprawling suburbs, ring roads and highways. Cities due to mass consumption and cars have brought many problems. It is the basis of many cities' challenges today.

Today, we find ourselves again in the dawn of a new city transition. These changes, due to the rapid development of ICT technology are incorporating into concepts such as 'Smart City'. Such discourse promises to be developed through a technology-driven approach that helps to address the biggest challenges of urban society. However, the results of such an approach are widely debated about their effectiveness. Nevertheless, there is a question about how new technology will affect most of the existing and future cities of the world.

Key Message

Smart cities are the functional societies that make the most of ICT. They have dominated the city's thinking and debate in recent years. Advancements in artificial intelligence, robotics, Internet of things, autonomous vehicles, virtual reality, and 3D printing promise a new era in modern urban development. Behind this era, IT devices are rapidly growing from complex global systems to personal pocket devices. Connected devices can receive, analyze, and continuously refine data to efficiently manage products and services. Opportunities are as compelling as they are, and the pace of technological innovation has made governments, municipalities and private companies struggling to understand the future of digital cities.

Therefore, it is necessary to think about urban development considering that the profit can be shared and shared among the majority of cities. Is it possible to sustainably resolve the existing urban challenges with the innovative ICT technology? What is the proper role of technology in future urban development and who is the target? Who is driving the future and what is motivation? How can you achieve the balance of technological innovation that does not harm universal values as a human being? These are the questions that must be addressed.

Objectives

• Discuss about the role of technology in future urban development
• Discuss sustainable solutions for current urban challenges
• Discuss new technological innovations to enhance the quality of life and foster well-being

Session Rationale

The role of global partnership is crucial for the achievement of SDGs by 2030. Of many different forms of partnerships that can be formed, there is much greater role that universities can play to facilitate SDG implementation and what universities can deliver will be enhanced when they form partnerships with the private sector, other civil society organizations, and of course governments. These partnerships will not only deliver results in terms of sub-targets of SDG17, but also achieve other key SDGs as well.

Background

Universities are primarily perceived as higher education institutions, and thus, the education function is often emphasized. However, we also need to highlight that universities are key resources for research, leading to innovation. The range of partnerships that universities form covers a wide gamut of involvement: limited partnerships, some partnerships within the local community, such as corporate firms and startups, and active engagement, extending beyond the country where universities are located in. Even if a university is not actively engaged in global partnership, there may be ways to contribute to SDG implementation because of its research function.

Targets of SDG17, the goal to revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development, clarify the number of different channels for SDGs implementation. These channels include financing mechanisms for sustainable development, coordination for technology facilitation, international support for capacity-building in developing countries, promotion of exports across countries, especially least developed countries, and innovative solutions to systemic issues in sustainable development.

In terms of systemic issues in SDG implementation, there is ample room for university involvement. These issues include how to enhance policy coherence for sustainable development, how to promote multi-stakeholder partnerships to share knowledge, expertise, technology, and financial resources to achieve SDGs in all countries, especially in developing countries, and how to enhance capacity-building to deliver high-quality data, monitoring and accountability so that we have information within countries on income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location, and other relevant variables for each national context.

Since universities are home to faculty, researchers, and students that encompass various disciplines that are key to sustainable development, they are the best human resources to work on solutions to such systemic issues. However, they cannot work on sustainable development by themselves, since SDG implementation is possible through counterpart organizations that are willing to share the insights and input from the field, whether it be NGOs, local or national governments, and private firms.

Session Objectives

• Share different forms of academic involvement for SDG implementation
• Provide case studies on how universities can form partnerships to monitor and implement SDGs.
• Demonstrate how data is used to monitor progress on SDGs.
• Highlight which SDGs are prioritized within academia and academic clusters exist in terms research on SDGs.

Parallel Session: Academic Partnerships for SDGs Monitoring and Implementation

Moderator: Paul Glewwe, Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota

Presentation Title : Monitoring SDGs through SDG Indexboard

Speaker Name, Position : Dr. Cristian Kroll Scientific Co-Director of the SDG Index & Senior Expert for Sustainable Development at Bertelsmann Stiftung (tentative)

Presentation Title : Unlocking Impact Investment for Sustainable Infrastructure. A Case Study from Mexico.

Speaker Name, Position : Dr. Alex Money, University of Oxford (confirmed)

Contact information (e-mail address / phone #) : alex.money@smitschool.ox.ac.uk

Presentation Title : Research for UN 2030 Development Agenda: Understanding where We Stand for SDGs Implementation through Text Mining

Speaker Name, Position : Prof. Keeheon Lee & Semee Yoon, Yonsei University (confirmed)

Contact information (e-mail address / phone #) : keeheon@yonsei.ac.kr / yoonsemee@yonsei.ac.kr

Presentation Title : SDGs Monitoring and Leaving No One Behind: Data for tracking progress on North Korean Sustainable Development

Speaker Name, Position : Prof. Jung Hun Cho, Ajou University (tentative)

Presentation Title : Opportunities and Needs for Rigorous Evaluation of Refugee Support Programs

Speaker Name, Position : Dr. Unni Karunakara, President, Board of Directors, Médecins sans Frontières (confirmed)

Contact information (e-mail address / phone #) : unni.karunakara@yale.edu