SMU accepted into the United Nations Academic Impact Network

Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) plays a critical role in contributing to the transformation of the health sciences sector in South Africa and Africa, while at the same time making a meaningful contribution to the needs of the community it serves and the continent as a whole. Engaging in activities aligned to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals thus allows the institution collaboratively to make a difference in local and international communities.  

It is thus with great pleasure that SMU can announce that it has been accepted into the United Nations Academic Impact Network (UNAI). It joins a vast network of more than 1600 institutions in more than 150 countries. Of these institutions, only five other public South African universities from part of the Network.

This network provides a platform where higher education institutions can engage “with the United Nations in supporting and contributing, through research and education, the realisation of the Organization’s values, goals and mandates, namely through the Sustainable Development Goals and the ten UNAI Principles”.

“Dr Michael Caldwell from our new institutional partner, Meharry Medical College, greatly assisted us in engaging with the UNAI,” said Dr Carlien Jooste, Director Internationalisation at SMU. She further commented, “admission to the UNAI allows us to have access to other collaborators through the Members Forum, scholarship opportunities as well as a platform where we can share the SDG aligned activities that we are engaging in.”

For more information on the UNAI, one can visit: https://www.un.org/en/academicimpact.