On 18 and 19 September 2023, world leaders will gather in New York for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit to assess the degree of action required to fulfil the ambitious targets of the 2030 Agenda. In partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and the SDG Lab, the Geneva Graduate Institute is hosting three information booths on how to harness policy-relevant research to accelerate the SDGS:

Booth 1: Towards a new social contract of sustainable development for future generations

Since the end of World War I, the global order was built on the foundations of multilateral cooperation and multilateralism has evolved around the concept of peace and cooperation. Multilateral action has achieved an enormous amount over the past 100 years, while now more than ever no country, however powerful, can solve its challenges alone. Today severe crises, increasing inequalities and conflicts have a potential to combine into a mega-threat to the international order. This is a time to reflect on how stable the foundations of global cooperation really are and what are the future scenarios for multilateralism, both as a set of values and as a practice among nations. To address the shortcomings of traditional models of development and growth, this project report focuses on identifying alternative, frontier concepts redefining the idea of long-term sustainability. The project notably explores what a future might look like where these concepts are mainstreamed, and considers what actions or tools are needed to achieve this.

• Participating students: Gisenly Garcias Garcia, Luciana Yael Markstein, and Bokyong Mun
• Partner: SDG Lab

Booth 2: Measuring the Right to Non-Discrimination – New Data for Human Rights

Presently, only thirty-two percent of countries report data on SDG indicator 16.b.1 which measures the number of people experiencing discrimination, with significant inconsistencies across regions. As the custodian agency for indicator 16.b.1, how can the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) strengthen its capacity to monitor and address discrimination based on race/ethnicity? Scrutinizing the limitations of the current reliance on survey data, this project report proposes a shift towards an administrative data framework. Developed through a systematic four-stage review process, this framework refines the monitoring of target 16.b.1 to focus explicitly on racial and ethnic discrimination by using criteria like cultural sensitivity, feasibility, and actionability. It thereby proposes a robust set of five indicators—two structural, two processual, and one outcome-based. The report further advances recommendations for data disaggregation by race and ethnicity, secure data storage, and methodological considerations in indicator design. While acknowledging its limitations and the need to further test the proposed methodology, particularly in data collection feasibility, this report serves as a starting point for more comprehensive and nuanced approaches to human rights monitoring. 

• Participating students: Jessica Iona Munro Curry, Nameetta Nierakkal, and Sine Schei
• Partner: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Booth 3: The Market Potential and Challenges for Diaspora Finance Products within the African Diaspora Space in Europe

Due to the increasing migration from African nations to Europe, there has been a recent upswing in remittances sent by the African diaspora in European countries to African nations. As a result, a fresh opportunity has emerged for diaspora finance industries and a demand for financial products tailored to the specific needs of the diaspora community. However, the task of determining the market's size, pinpointing the most favourable sectors, understanding the investment preferences of the African diaspora, identifying the hurdles in engaging the diaspora, and learning from the successes and failures of key market participants is quite complex due to the market's relatively new nature. Thus, we set out to research the market and its potential for companies aiming to provide financial products to the African diaspora in Europe, who are both willing and able to subscribe to Diaspora Direct Investment (DDI).

• Participating students: Gadirou Diallo, Vladimir Paddack, and Puru Rohilla 
• Partner: A-Brod