Birzeit University Joins the United Nations Academic Impact Initiative

Having met membership requirements, Birzeit University has recently joined the United Nations Academic Impact Initiative to become one of the 1000 universities and higher education institutions, representing 120 countries signatories to the initiative.
The Birzeit University President Dr. Khalil Hindi said:"With this step, our university has become one of the educational institutions that support the ten universal principles approved by the United Nations”
The basic principles are:
1. A commitment to the principles inherent in the United Nations Charter as values that education seeks to promote and help fulfil;
2. A commitment to human rights, among them freedom of inquiry, opinion, and speech;
3. A commitment to educational opportunity for all people regardless of gender, race, religion or ethnicity;
4. A commitment to the opportunity for every interested individual to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for the pursuit of higher education;
5. A commitment to building capacity in higher education systems across the world;
6. A commitment to encouraging global citizenship through education;
7. A commitment to advancing peace and conflict resolution through education;
8. A commitment to addressing issues of poverty through education;
9. A commitment to promoting sustainability through education;
10. A commitment to promoting inter-cultural dialogue and understanding, and the “unlearning” of intolerance, through education.
In this context, Hindi said: "Within a short period and after consulting with concerned parties in the university, we will announce the practical mechanisms to support many of the ten principles. This comes out of the university’s keenness to continue carrying on its social, national and moral responsibilities towards the Palestinian rights and issues, which are stipulated in international charters and conventions.”
• The formal launch of the UN Academic Impact Initiative took place at a two-day conference in New York City, November 18-19, 2010.