In late September Columbia University hosted the 3rd Annual International Conference of Sustainable Development (ICSD) in New York City, and Emory MDP had a strong presence at this years events.

The focus for this year’s conference was on the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs. Also referred to as the Global Goals, they are a set of targets to guide international development, following up on the Millennium Development Goals that were implemented during the last 15 years. The United Nations General Assembly’s Open Working Group held several sessions through 2014 to assess the outcomes of the MDGs and to identify future goals and targets for the next 15 years. The recent ICSD conference fell on the eve of the official adoption of the 2030 Development Agenda SDGs by the UN, aiming to “to identify and share practical, evidence-based solutions that can support the SDGs”.

Several Emory MDP affiliates made their way to NYC for the highly anticipated event, including the Program Director, Professor David Nugent who chaired a panel on Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition. Nugent also convened a gathering of the directors of the MDP programs in North America, to discuss ways of strengthening collaborations as the MDP regional hub. MDP (’16) students Helena Worrall, and Victoria Chuong also attended the conference, and Tyrell Kahan MDP (’16) presented  a paper entitled “Analysis of Zoonotic Pathogens Among Humans and Mountain Gorillas in Bisate, Rwanda”. The paper reported findings from Kahan’s summer field practicum with the Dian Fossey International Gorilla Fund in Rwanda.  His study identified three parasites in gorilla samples that are similar to parasites known to infect humans. Kahan commented, “the results have major implications for community development conservation efforts of the mountain gorillas”. Though the presentation was part of in the Health Session, Kahan stressed that the complex nature of development goals by pointing to interactions with SDG3: Ensuring healthy lives; SDG6: Ensuring clean water and sanitation; and, SDG15: Promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.

Kahan’s work was not the only Emory MDP work featured at the ICSD this year. A panel on “Inclusive Economic Growth and the Role of Business” featured research on corporate social responsibility and sustainable development in Colombia by Victoria Chuong (Emory MDP ’16) and a team of students from other MDP programs (Columbia, Florida). The team was hosted and supervised by faculty from the MDP program at the Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia. Chuong discussed how her team’s presentation stood out from the rest of the ICSD talks: “our research was unique in that it was working within the context of a corporation”. For Emory MDP, it is exciting to realize that the student’s summer practicum experiences and findings are aligned with innovative pathways to development.

Photo Top: Victoria Chuong, Tyrell Kahan, and Helena Worrall at ICSD
Photo Bottom: Sustainable Development Goals