The SDG Global Festival of Action is back with the theme “A Turning Point for People and Planet”; and we are glad to inform you that STER is a finalist for the UN SDG Award.
This year, the Executive Director of Stand To End Rape Initiative (STER), Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi, will be delivering a Lightning Talk tagged “Gender Equality with a focus on women’s safety and access to leadership”. This talk delves into the marginalisation of women and girls in leadership and political positions and highlights the spate of violence experienced across underdeveloped and developing countries. We invite you to listen to her talk on ways individuals, institutions and society at large can create a more equal, safe and just society for women and girls.
We also have some news to share. STER is a Finalist for the Mobilize UN SDGs Action Award! STER has been working tirelessly to achieve the wellbeing and safety of women in public and private settings and launched the Sexual Harassment Project. The initiative implements a robust, multi-sectoral prevention framework that combines societal, community and relationship-level partnerships to move beyond compliance and create culture change in tertiary institutions. It also centers the voices, experiences and perspectives of students (the most vulnerable group impacted by campus sexual harassment), empowering them as champions in efforts from awareness to action that target the elimination of sexual harassment in tertiary institutions. On why this initiative is important, STER believes “the costs of sexual harassment—and administrative indifference to it— severely impact students’ ability to learn. Unequal power relations and lack of policies in academic institutions have fostered a culture where students—mostly women and girls—are susceptible to unwanted sexual advances and abuse. The Sexual Harassment Project, in the attainment of the SDG5, focuses on protecting the safety of women and girls by pushing for the implementation of policies to prevent/respond to sexual harassment, empowering students with requisite tools to protect themselves and seek redress for the urgent goal of making tertiary institutions less accepting of sexual crimes.”
STER, as a leading youth-led organisation advancing equality and an end to sexual and gender-based violence, continues to provide holistic legal, medical, mental and psychosocial support to survivors. Being a finalist for the award is an amazing opportunity to highlight the important work the organisation does and we are elated to be considered for this award.
The SDG Global festival of action powered by the UN SDG Action Campaign finds new ways to inspire, mobilize and connect people and organizations to take action on the SDGs. In light of the pandemic, the Festival will be held in a dynamic virtual space with five different stages, featuring plenary sessions, enlightening talks, performances, interactive workshops and a space to connect with leaders, change-makers, activists, private sectors and more.
This year, the festival is multilingual and sessions will be in English, Japanese and translated into French and Spanish. The festival has four themes which are; climate action, poverty & inequality, gender equality and inclusive systems & sustainable finance.
Register here bit.ly/JoinGlobalFest2021 and join us on the 25th and 26th of March to #TurnItAround for an equal, better and sustainable future.
