Unicaf's Societal and Environmental Goals
Unicaf’s Principles of Social Responsibility
Unicaf’s social responsibility plans reflect its obligation to seek achievable and effective long-term goals in support of the UN’s call for action. They recognise the need to improve health and education, reduce inequality, and drive economic growth while tackling climate change and preserving the world’s oceans and forests.
Guided by the Africa Agenda 2063 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Unicaf primarily focuses on supporting African communities and other growing economies.
Unicaf’s Responsible and Sustainable Business Plan 2021 – 2025 goals and strategy
- Provide $200,000,000 worth of scholarships over the next five years
- Offer more than 7,000 hours a year in free education and career advice to young people by 2025
- Reinforce the local workforce where we operate by offering up to 200 work placements a year by 2025
- Generate thousands of funded community-led events to promote academic, social and economic inclusion
- Continue to champion policies, practices, and governance to support the eradication of inequality in all its forms
Net-zero carbon by 2035
Unicaf is committed to becoming net-zero carbon by 2035 – one of the few organisations worldwide seeking to achieve this. Unicaf has adopted a sustainable approach to its operations, and aims to generate research and knowledge that leads to action on the climate emergency. As a leading global online platform, it offers access to Higher Education while leaving a fraction of the carbon footprint that traditional campus-based universities do.
STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT FOR A BETTER SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR ALL
Unicaf aspires to make a positive impact on the quality and availability of higher education and the economic development of the communities we serve. As a leading pan-African tertiary institution, we are ideally positioned to promote and influence sustainable behaviour through our campuses, teaching and education programs, investment decisions and our extensive partner networks both locally and abroad. Our capacity for transnational work and influence was critically important to creating this Statement and its commitments.
These communities are the many towns and cities in Africa where we have universities, resources and call centres. They also include academic partnerships with UK and US universities, embracing many thousands of students worldwide. All our ventures aim to provide accessible, affordable and internationally recognised education programmes which focus on contemporary subjects with real meaning and value.
Our core values guide us on how and where we operate. Among these is the importance we place on our role as a responsible organisation in terms of our planet’s sustainability; shown by Unicaf University networks’ support for the United Nations (UN) Academic Impact initiative and our signing of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Accord.
Our students, colleagues, and partners recognise our role in creating a brighter, more sustainable world. We are building on what we do and developing more impactful and widespread initiatives across our entire organisation, all of which align with UN and African aspirations for a better future for all.
As an international provider of online higher education, we offer undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes using a fraction of the energy needed by traditional universities. Of course, we know that we can be even more energy-efficient, generate less waste and create more social value in all that we do. We also recognise that our geographical locations, sector-leading targets and growing research programme offer greater opportunities to more international communities to further their academic impact and professional credentials.
Therefore, we have aligned our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies and practices to many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Africa 2063 aspirations. In doing so, we commit ourselves to have the most significant impact in the areas of most need; the details of which are published in the Unicaf Sustainable and Responsible Business Plan 2021 – 2035. This Plan is championed by our Board of directors, who will review and govern our progress quarterly. Our ESG initiatives portfolio will be evidenced on our website, through which we will invite external stakeholders to inform our work and support its continuous improvement.
Finally, although the UN has set a target of net-zero carbon by 2050, Unicaf commits to operating at net-zero carbon by 2035, some 15 years ahead of international goals.
Dr Nicos Nicolaou
Chief Executive Officer
