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| Photo from UST CSC on Facebook |
Coming this Saturday, March 25, 2023, is one of the UST Central Student Council’s official projects for this school year, the Silakbo ng Dunong at Gamlay: The UST SDG Congress 2023.
This whole-day onsite excursion will focus on four of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, namely, SDG3 (Good Health & Well-being), SDG4 (Quality Education), SDG10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG16 (Peace & Strong Institutions) where students from different colleges can hone and put to test their cooperative thinking, debating, and leadership skills. The event will take place at the UST Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati Auditorium and holds limited slots which are secured via online registration prior to the event date.
Running from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, the event will be split into two sessions, a morning and an afternoon session. The first half of the gathering will consist of several talks from various invited speakers to discuss the four given SDGs to be tackled and how we can maximize them to solve the many challenges we are facing today.
The second half would be focused on giving the student delegates the opportunity to pitch projects that will benefit the university on a microscale and macroscale level. The said projects would be presented later on through debate and undergo a screening process by the judging panel. The most feasible pitch would then be implemented next term.
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| Photo from iVolunteerPH |
First to speak is Mr. Mark Jacinto, curator of the Online SDG Youth Action Forum, an online youth community that seeks to bridge young leaders and youth organizations by helping them contribute to the SDGs. Mr. Jacinto will be giving a discussion on the Introduction of Sustainable Development Goals to the audience.
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| Photo from Mr. Hernandez's LinkedIn |
Next to speak is Mr. Paul John Hernandez. Mr. Hernandez is the founder of The Travelling Salakot, a passion project that aims to promote and enrich Philippine culture and arts through practices like museum exposure and cultural education. Additionally, he is an alumnus of the Ayala Young Leaders Congress (AYLC), a student leadership summit that promotes social responsibility and nation-building. For his segment, he will be teaching the student delegates how to incorporate advocacies in their own leadership styles.
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| Photo from ASec. Galban's Official Facebook Page |
We also have speakers to go into full detail about the specific SDGs such as ASec. Dexter A. Galban, RN, RBP, MD-MDA with SDG3 (Good Health & Well-being). Being the Assistant Secretary for Youth Affairs and Special Concerns of the Department of Education, while also handling Alaga Health & Experto PlayLabs as its Chief Executive Officer & Founder, ASec Galban juggles his many responsibilities well and as such will discuss the SDG3 towards the student delegates.
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| Photo from the official website of DepEd Puerto Princesa |
For SDG4 (Quality Education), the speaker is Mr. Jann Romeo Nacar, the Executive Director of PH-LEAD Inc. Mr. Nacar is an advocate of education; he is currently the Senior Technical Associate at the Department of Education and was previously a Teacher Fellow for Teach for the Philippines. He graduated from Occidental Mindoro National College with a Bachelor's Degree in Basic Education and earned a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership and Administration at De La Salle University - Dasmariñas.
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| Photo from the official Facebook of Dr. Mata |
To discuss SDG10 (Reduced Inequalities), UST Central Student Council has invited Dr. Maureen Ava Mata, a council member of the National Anti-Poverty Commission Persons with Disabilities Sectoral Council. Having specialized in dealing with the disability sector and surviving bone cancer herself, Dr. Mata will focus on a more inclusive perspective on discussing SDG10.
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| Photo from SustainablePh |
Lastly, Mr. Dexter Yang will be the speaker for SDG16 (Peace & Strong Institutions). As the founder of GoodGovPH, Inc., a youth-led nonprofit for good governance in the Philippines, as well as the representative of Southeast Asia in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Mr. Yang will be sharing his experience in the field.
This project by the Central Student Council offers student delegates interactive segments and a space to collaborate in promoting advocacies and helping be part of realizing the UN SDGs. This is particularly significant following the years of online learning which has affected the extent of engagements and interactions that students are able to experience onsite.
