On November 20 and 21, students at both Niagara campuses painted plant pots while learning about gender equality, one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).
The Painting & Planting event was co-hosted by the Student Rights and Responsibilities Office and the Sustainability Office to raise awareness about SDG five: Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls. This goal recognizes that gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.
During the event, Elysia Dardarian, Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Coordinator, shared Canada’s targets with respect to SDG five, including:
- That fewer women are victims of intimate partner violence and sexual assault’
- greater representation of women in leadership roles;
- equal sharing of parenting roles and family responsibilities.
“It was a great opportunity to shed light on how GBV and Sustainability are connected,” said Dardarian.
They also discussed goal 5.2 which refers to the elimination of all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking, sexual and other types of exploitation. The discussion included defining gender-based violence, who is impacted at most at risk, and what we can all do to end this kind of violence.
The event was also an opportunity for students to make a connection between the SDG’s and gender equality.
“It provided us with another opportunity to show how sustainability permeates through all things, not just the environmental aspects of sustainability,” said Katie Bristow, Sustainability Program and Outreach Coordinator. “We also used it as an opportunity to highlight the great work that Elysia is doing at the College and provide another outlet for students to learn about what supports NC to students who need it.”
