Sustainability Development Goal (SDG) 5 –Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 5 of the 17 Sustainability Goals is to achieve gender equality and empowerment for all women and girls. As set out in the SDG’s women’s equal participation in decision making it is crucial if we are to achieve gender equality by 2030 in the world. A target quite unattainable if we continue as we have always done. Leadership is key to driving institutional change and thankfully in UL our Human Rights-EDI agenda is driven from the top. We are committed to building and maintaining an inclusive environment which promotes equality, values, diversity and respects the rights and dignity of our staff and students. We embrace equality, diversity and inclusion through our people, structures, actions, values and culture.
UL continues to be a leader in the sector embedding gender equality across the institution at all levels through utilising the Athena SWAN framework. Over 90% of all departments in UL hold a bronze school/department award and the Department Physics holds the only silver Athena SWAN award in the RoI. UL welcomes the new Athena Swan Framework which includes the broader EDI challenges for the sector. Our Human Rights and Equality Strategy and our Athena SWAN/Gender Action Plans clearly set out our commitment to achieving this aim through setting specific achievable targets. Each faculty and department in the institution has an Athena SWAN/EDI Self-Assessment Team which places gender equality and EDI as a key agenda item on all departmental meetings.
Women and girls must have equal rights and opportunity to be able to live free from violence and discrimination in support of this goal. UL Consent Framework Action Plan commits to eliminating gender-based violence. We are an institution that sends out a clear message that no form of bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, or sexual misconduct, will be tolerated on our campus. Educating our staff and students on establishing healthy sexual relationship, understanding consent and the dos and don’ts on handling disclosures are all key priorities. New policies on Sexual Harassment, Sexual Misconduct and Violence are in development covering staff and students are currently in development.