HIT on track with SDG projects: UNESCO

By Nomagugu Konke

Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) flourishes in projects that are in-line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) through the support of UNESCO.

This was revealed during the visit by UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General to the Institution upon which the visit is based on a baseline study that was conducted in Zimbabwe and Zambia in 2021 which resulted in issues being raised about student health, the birth of 03 plus project among other issues.

The 03 plus project is looking at issues to do with enhancing good health for the students, education, and gender equality outcomes through a sustained reduction in new HIV infections, unintended pregnancies, and gender-based violence thus enabling students to attain their educational objectives.

Speaking during an interview, the Vice Chancellor of Harare Institute of Technology Dr. Eng Quinton Kanhukamwe said he was glad

 “HIT has attained numerous goals as per terms of reference that were given by UNESCO, one of those is that training should have been conducted and making sure that amongst the students, they have mentors who support other students on campus,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellor said forty training sessions were conducted and they also revealed the sexual harassment policy on campus so that all the stakeholders around the campus are part of what it contains.

The various sustainable types of research that students were able to do resulted in the production of the green toilet, a toilet that provides biogas energy to the rural setup as well as reducing the emission of gases into the atmosphere.

Speaking at the tour of the innovation hub at HIT, UNESCO’s Assistant Director General for Education, Stephanie Giannini said research Institutions must be a global community that has a local impact.

“Most of the projects seek to solve local problems but that can be scaled up and disseminated to other communities in Zimbabwe as well as across the borders,”

“Not only do have to adapt the program and training to the culture of sustainability but also to make the products of these researches suitable and available for our community lives improved. From biomass energy to feed the kitchen in rural to the health 03 plus program and the green toilet can be a great game changer to the society,” she said.