Using its intellectual forum Lux Talk to discuss the role of academia in national planning on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the University of Liberia (UL) says it is well – positioned to mobilize and coordinate the academic community here in the setup of a National United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Ahead of a panel discussion Wednesday, 30 September in the auditorium of the university’s Capitol Hill Campus, UL president Rev. Dr. Julius Sarwolo Nelson made a “committal” for and on behalf of the University of Liberia” in support of the Decade of Action on the Implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals at the national level.

He says UL has already applied for membership to the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) to forge global networks and partnerships of universities. According to Dr. Nelson, the purpose is to strengthen both national and global problems solving.

He announced that preparations alongside the university’s application process have already started, adding that UL has also embarked on the process of establishing institutional link with the Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi), an international network created in 1999 by UNESCO, United Nations University (UNU) and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya Barcelona Tech (UP).

Touching on UL’s “committal” in support of the decade of action on the implementation of the SDGs, Dr. Nelson cites the creation of new academic programs for the undergraduate colleges, graduate and professional schools, biodiversity, climate change and environmental science, public health, nursing and midwifery, the Honors College of Research and Gender Studies and an entrepreneurship program.