SDG1 No Poverty
Photo Credit: Project Ha Giang 2019
Background
Eradicating poverty and ensuring equal rights to economic resources are essential to sustainable development, and HKU works towards these goals via education in the classroom and campus-wide policies. The Common Core course Poverty, Development, and the Next Generation: Challenges for a Global World asks undergraduates to explore how poverty affects people around the world and examines strategies to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention (CSRP) also looks at economic inequality and how it can affect mental wellbeing. In 2018, the Centre held a symposium on poverty alleviation strategies which brought together regional scholars to explore effective ways to reduce poverty in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.
The University also works to provide social protections and equal benefits for its staff. The Staff Medical Benefits Scheme was revised in 2017 to bring benefits in line with citywide increases in the price of services. Reimbursable amounts for specialist consultations were increased to be on par with other publicly funded institutions in Hong Kong.
Teaching & Research
Click on the icons to see the full list of courses/research.
2017-18
2018-19
28
27
Courses
1,682
1,750
20
ResearchPapers
21
Students
enrolled
Operations
Total amount of donations for scholarships, bursaries, prizes and loans (2017-2019)
127 million
Hong Kong dollars
Initiatives
A team of passionate architecture and urban planning students developed Project Ha Giang 2019, to reduce inequality, eradicate poverty, and empower villagers in rural Vietnam. The students worked with a local NGO to help the community promote its ecotourism potential via digital marketing and design. The team visited Ha Giang province to learn about the local culture and the area’s sustainable tourism activities first hand, and teach conversational English with particular emphasis on tourism. They then developed a bespoke website for the village to promote ecotourism in the area. This innovative project wove together traditional culture and modern technology and helped to boost the economic potential of a vulnerable area.
In 2018, The Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention completed a three-year study on determinants of poverty and potential intervention to alleviate poverty. The project looked at long-term poverty trends in Hong Kong, psycho-socio-demographic determinants of poverty, and the challenges facing individuals in leaving poverty nets. The study found useful information to help reduce poverty such as differences in different districts in Hong Kong and how this affects poverty, as well as the impact of poverty through generations. This study will help to support vulnerable communities and eradicate poverty in Hong Kong.