777ӰԺ has been the global academic hub for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 16 for the past six years.
In 2019, the university was first awarded the honour and in 2022 was awarded a second three-year term. The only university in the UK to be a global academic hub in the period from 2019-2024.
The SDGs form a key cross-cutting theme of the university’s The Empowerment University strategic plan.
Our 2024 report on all 17 SDGs will show what work the university has been doing through research and engagement in helping to meet those targets and raising awareness of the progress towards the 2030 aims.
Our reports start with the United Nations’ verdict on progress from their 2024 report on SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
UN PROGRESS REPORT ON SDG 16
There has only been moderate progress on 15% of the targets for this SDG based on the 2015 base line and a further 48% are showing only minimal progress. In a further 32% of targets, progress has actually stagnated at the 2015 levels.
The UN report on SDG 16 states; “Rising conflicts and violent organised crime persist around the world, causing immense human suffering and hampering sustainable development. The number of forcibly displaced people reached an unprecedented 120 million in May 2024. Civilian casualties in armed conflicts surged by 72 per cent in 2023.
“Corruption continues to divert resources from sustainable development, with one in five people reporting being asked to pay or having paid a bribe to a public official in the last 12 months. With one third of prisoners unsentenced worldwide, achieving just judicial processes and improving prison conditions is imperative.
All SDGs depend on establishing lasting peace and preventing violent conflicts. Urgent action is needed to combat corruption and organised crime, strengthen the rule of law and access to justice, build effective and inclusive governance institutions, and protect rights and fundamental freedoms”.
DMU NEWS ON SDG 16 in 2024
More than 48 countries involved in DMU-led work to prevent miscarriages of justice
AN INTERNATIONAL project to improve the way in which suspects are interviewed and end unethical interrogations now has more than 200 members from 48 different countries.
ImpleMéndez – led by 777ӰԺ’s Professor Dave Walsh - has gone from strength to strength since it was first launched in October 2023.
Its aim is to support the implementation of the Mendez Principles, a set of guidelines supported by the United Nations to ensure effective interviewing and prevent ill-treatment and forced confessions around the world. The principles were named after the former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez, who convened a team of international experts that drew from law, forensic psychology and criminology in creating the guide.
Pointless programme leads to seizure of 300 knives
RESEARCH on round-ended, less-lethal kitchen knives presents a viable alternative to traditional pointed-tip blades, contributing to knife crime reduction efforts. These knives maintain culinary utility while minimising accidental injuries and reducing their value in violent crime.
Findings have been disseminated to key stakeholders, including the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the National Knife Crime Working Group, the Forensic Capability Network Police Knowledge Hub, and various UK police Violence Reduction Units (VRUs).
As a result of this research, the Kent and Medway VRU introduced Pointless, a Safer Knife Replacement Scheme (SKRS) integrated into their Standard Operating Procedure.
Since its implementation in 2024, Pointless has engaged 70 households and led to the seizure of over 300 pointed kitchen knives.
Forensic Science researchers gather for a major conference at DMU
A HOME Office initiative which is building a new national DNA database, latest techniques using dental records in criminal investigations and research into the social impact of forensic science were all under discussion at a conference hosted by 777ӰԺ.
The East Midlands Forensic Network conference, hosted at DMU’s Leicester Castle Business School, saw academics, Home Office representatives, industry experts and the police force’s East Midlands Special Operations Unit come together to look at the latest research advancing forensic investigations.
New hate crime research will lead to more support for victims, say researchers
SUPPORT for victims of hate crime is set to be improved through recommendations made by researchers at 777ӰԺ.
Experts from the university have completed a two-and-a-half year project to investigate ways in which services for victims of hate crime in Walsall could be improved.
Kim Sadique, Associate Professor in Community & Criminal Justice, and Nikki Bailey, Senior Lecturer in Criminal Justice and Policing, worked with social enterprise Black Country Innovate CIC to survey people affected by hate crime.
The researchers’ recommendations will inform the next iteration of the Walsall Hate Crime Reduction Initiative, which brings together individuals, community organisations, places of worship, Walsall Council, and West Midlands Police in the effort to reduce all forms of hate crime across the town.
DMU Academic Contributes to Exhibition on Kosovan War
THE work of a 777ӰԺ academic is contributing to a major exhibition commemorating the end of the 1998-99 Kosovo War.
Lala Meredith-Vula, Professor in Art and Photography at DMU, has contributed some of her photography peices to Reporting House, which opened on 10th June in the Kosovan capital Prishtina.
Reporting House creates a space for contemplation, dialogue, and catharsis, honouring the memory of those affected by the war in Kosovo while advocating for future peace in the world. It offers the opportunity for Kosovans and tourists the opportunity to learn more about the conflict, which displaced 90% of Kosovar Albanian population and culminated in 11 weeks of NATO airstrikes which eventually led to the Yugoslavian withdrawal.
Counter-Narrative Films helping to combat extremism
DE MONTFORT University’s Professor Jason Lee has written and produced multiple counter-narrative films aimed at combating extremism and disinformation on immigration, vaccines, and climate change.
These films, are being used in ongoing psychological focus groups across six countries.
Evolution Film, a global film organization driven by SDG 16, was founded to advance inclusivity in the media industry. Evolution Film has provided work opportunities to hundreds of individuals traditionally marginalized from the industry, including neurodiverse professionals.
The impact of this initiative has directly informed policy recommendations stemming from the House of Lords committee on disability and work.
DMU Academic Appointed to Key Advisory Position
KIM Sadique, Associate Professor in Genocide Prevention and Education at DMU has been appointed as Chair of the Academic Advisory Board for Remembering Srebrenica which is the UK Government funded national charity which educates about the consequences of hate and commemorates the Bosnian Genocide.
The charity has educated over 200,000 young people and created 1,500 Community Champions who stand up to hate and help build more cohesive communities.
The Academic Advisory Board is made up of experts in the fields of genocide studies, education, history and politics. It works to provide critical scholarship, advising on the creation of educational materials to support the work of the charity.
Virtual Srebrenica Room Launches at DMU
AN IMMERSIVE new digital learning space created to commemorate the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia was recently "opened" at 777ӰԺ (DMU) by his Excellency Mr Osman Topcagic, Bosnian Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
A collaboration between DMU, Cardiff and Vale College, the technology company mXreality, and Remembering Srebrenica Wales, the Virtual Bosnia Room is a virtual reality education environment which teaches users about the massacre, in which more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys systematically murdered by units of the Bosnian Serb Army in July 1995. In 2005, the massacre became the first legally established case of genocide since the Second World War.
The Room presents three stages of the atrocity – before, during and after - so that learners can contextualise how identity-based hate narratives can culminate in genocide and learn of the consequences of orchestrated violence.
Thanks to Stephen I have a voice, I have power: DMU celebrates five years of the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre
WHEN the SLRC opened five years ago, one of the aims it had was to create Stephen Lawrence Ambassadors – young people who would actively engage in learning about social justice and racial issues, sharing what they know and learn with others.
It was a way of ensuring that the murder of 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence, who was killed in a racist attack in 1993, had a positive legacy in society.
At first, there were just ten such ambassadors. Today there are more than 200 in schools across the city and county of Leicestershire.
Yesterday, more than 100 of them came together to celebrate this milestone, sharing stories of how it has transformed their lives for the better, filling the room with a unified message: “Thanks to Stephen, I have a voice.”
The SLRC was officially opened on the DMU campus in 2019 by Stephen’s mother Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the former Chancellor of DMU. It focuses on giving students and young people a voice to help create a society which treats everyone with fairness and respect.
DMU students' trip to New York inspires them to take the lead in helping UN reach Sustainable Development Goals
THREE students from 777ӰԺ Leicester (DMU) have been on a trip to the United Nations HQ in New York and presented their ideas and views on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The team, which also included Sherilyn Pereira, acting Deputy Director of the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre, attended high-level talks and presented their work at DMU to representatives of United Nations Academic Impact.
Before heading to New York all three students had expressed a frustration about how slowly global governments are moving to address the SDGs.
Inspiration behind refugee project visits DMU
STUDENTS inspired by the story of Afghanistan refugee Atefa Waseq set up a project at 777ӰԺ aimed at changing the negative narrative surrounding asylum seeker and migrants.
Atefa, a professor in her home country, was forced to flee the gender-based discrimination under Taliban rule and went to Berlin, Germany.
It was there students on a DMU fact-finding trip heard her story and came back to Leicester and established Project Atefa, an initiative dedicated to sharing the stories of refugees and asylum seekers, with the aim of reshaping narratives surrounding displaced communities.
Now, Atefa has visited DMU’s Leicester campus and met students. During an open discussion with social work students, she shed light on the challenges faced by refugees, including the legal, social, and emotional hardships of seeking safety in a new
DMU RESEARCH INTO SDG 16 in 2024
Supporting and challenging hate in an online discussion of a controversial refugee policy
(Simon Goodman and Abi Locke)
In this research paper, a discursive/rhetorical approach is applied to an online debate about a controversial refugee policy in the UK containing 586 comments, to address the question: How are arguably hateful arguments, or those challenging hateful arguments, supported and challenged in the context of an internet discussion about a controversial refugee policy?
Analysis demonstrated that support for posts is shown to come in the form of additional points to bolster existing ones. Opposition to posts took the form of simple rejections and counterpoints, sometimes taking a three-part structure of (a) simple rejection, (b) counterpoint and (c) upgrade, but also included insults, ridiculing and name calling. Discursive and rhetorical analyses have been shown to have potential to understand online behaviour offering more detail than relying on anonymity to explain controversial and hateful speech.
From Evidentiary Epistemologies to Empowered Solidarities – A Pedagogy for Social Change in Genocide Education
(Kim Sadique)
Encounters with ‘difficult knowledge’ (Britzman, 1998), that which is uncomfortable or unsettling, such as anti-racist, settler-colonial, or genocide education, have the potential for affective disempowerment of learners (Worsham, 2001) or can be the platform for encouraging radical action. Exploring educational experiences in memorial museums at sites of mass atrocities (Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and Srebrenica Memorial Centre) from the perspective of both educators and learners, this paper presents a Pedagogy for Social Change in Genocide Education (Sadique, 2024).
It argues that genocide education requires evidence, affectivity, memory formation, reflection and empowerment for learners to be moved from the less radical ‘Never Forget’ to a more action-oriented position (Zembylas, 2014).
Learning from Genocide: A narrative study of guiding experiences at sites of mass atrocities in Poland and Bosnia
(Kim Sadique)
The pedagogic purposes of memorial museums are to provide a moral education where visitors develop individual agency and responsibility to build a better future. However, personal transformation and active citizenship is underexplored in the literature. This study applied a critical social lens to explore the guiding experiences of visitors and educators at memorial museums situated in ‘authentic sites’, namely Auschwitz Birkenau State Museum, Poland and Srebrenica Memorial Centre, Bosnia.
Students discussed the centrality of both personal and dialogic reflection to make sense of what they saw and heard. Guide-educators drew attention to gaps in content in regard to the socio-political context in which genocide occurred and the prominence of victim perspectives and this appeared to be linked to the way they guided – through narration of the space rather than in the space, and this differentiation identified during the study presents new knowledge.
Moreover, individual agency and ‘action’ were only evident in survivor-educator delivery. A further original contribution is demonstrated in the development of a comprehensive model of genocide education – A Pedagogy for Social Change
Read the full Sustainable Development Goals 2024 report on all the SDGs here
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions