Held at Sunway University on 13 – 14 January 2025, the 2025 ASEAN Workshop on Sustainable Development: Accelerating ASEAN Progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, involved several SDSN Malaysia Leadership Council members.

Day 1

Day 2

SDSN Malaysia UUM Focal Points Assoc Prof Masnita Misiran @ Bakun and Dr Saadi Ahmad Kamaruddin played key roles in organising the briefing.

Misiran and Kamaruddin are from the Centre for Testing, Measurement and Appraisal (CeTMA). CeTMA’s role in UUM’s sustainability transformation involves setting localised campus indicators, convening multidisciplinary taskforces of UUM academics to develop sustainability solutions initiatives, and moblising a whole-of-campus approach.

22 coordinating administrators and academics from UUM’s Community Outreach Programme or MEKAR programme (Membina Kesejahteraan Rakyat) attended the briefing. The MEKAR programme formalises UUM’s role in the state’s community development as it strategically involves all 3 UUM Colleges, and therefore all of its 16 schools. Briefing the MEKAR coordinating officers familiarised them with the Sub-State Malaysian SDG Dashboard, thereby paving the way to its use preliminary tool for intervention design.

MEKAR is an initiative to undertake university-to-community knowledge transfer in a formalised way.

Danesh Prakash Chacko from the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development conducted the briefing. Participants were familiarised with the methodology and were given a demonstration of the Kedah Sub-State website. Chacko focused on the SDG performance for the state of Kedah, showed participants an overview of Kedah’s Major SDG Challenges. The dashboard is hosted on the ArcGIS ESRI platform, which provides visual representations of data in the form of interactive maps. This includes visualisations which compare pre-and-post COVID-19 assessment for selected SDGs.

“You can click on this [each district] and it will give you information,” explained Chacko as he demonstrated the interactive maps.

Chacko raised the ability to identify Districts to target interventions, “for the action plan you can focus on Districts like Yan, Kuala Muda.” The dashboard may spur participants’ thinking when development perceptions do not align with assessments seen. “Sungai Petani is an economic hub full of industries, why is there [high] absolute poverty?” reflected Chacko.

The dashboard methodology was conveyed to participants, specifically, participants were given an overview of trend, rating and score.

Kamaruddin served as moderator for the 2 hour-long briefing with Kong Phui Yi, SDSN Malaysia Network Manager, as support during Question and Answer.

“Hopefully at the end of the programme we can align community projects with the SDG performance for Kedah, ” was Kamaruddin’s vision for the session. Kamaruddin introduced SDSN as an organisation and the function of the SDG Dashboard to the participants. “Experts who are doing sustainability efforts in Kedah can troubleshoot lots of problems in Kedah [using the dashboard],” reflected Kamaruddin.

Participants asked about the methodology to measure SDG achievement. Chacko gave an explanation of trend, score and rating, pointing participants to the Methodology section within the dashboard website.

A participant, Dr Darwinda Pero, from UUM’s School of International Studies asked about interventions for the State Assembly Kuala Nerang, located in the northern district of Kubang Pasu. Kong highlighted a plan of action for Kuala Nerang, “[Firstly] you can look at entrepreneurial support for women, skills, bringing their products to market and small business support.”

“Secondly, environmental awareness, to tell them about the benefits of ecosystem services in order to inform the local community to remind their local government to keep the forest intact, and lastly, because of uneven income distribution, you can see if there are areas that are underserved, as a way for information to flow, because sometimes the welfare officers may not have the capacity to cover the district sufficiently.” The Sub-State Dashboard’s interactive maps enable the user to assess appropriate starting-points to assess local SDG gaps.

The Kedah Sub-State Dashboard also makes available more granular level assessments. The State has 12 Districts, further broken down into 36 State Constituencies.

The session further served to link UUM’s staff to SDSN resources. Kamaruddin ended the session by encouraging the participants to make use of accessible online material to learn more about sustainable development, specifically the SDG Academy’s Library. Looking forward, the participants were informed of the opportunity to participate in an upcoming localisation project of primary and secondary school lesson plans into the Malay language, coordinated by both UUM Focal Points Masnita and Kamaruddin.

On 16 March 2023, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) invited the SDSN Malaysia to brief staff on the use of Malaysia’s first District Level dashboard for its university-wide community outreach programme. Since the SDGs for Malaysian States dashboard was launched in 2022, the team at SDSN Malaysia has embarked on further localising the dashboard to Sub-State with Kedah as its pilot. Kedah, a state in northern peninsular Malaysia, is home to UUM, one of Malaysia’s largest public universities.

SDSN Malaysia Focal Points attended the launch. SDSN Member Focal Points play a pivotal role in identifying expertise within their institution to advance SDSN projects.

SDSN Malaysia is the country chapter for the Global SDSN, a network of universities and other knowledge-generating bodies. Collectively, SDSN has 1,700 members, as of December 2022. Each SDSN Chapter comprises members. In SDSN Malaysia there are 22 Member Institutions, as of December 2022. Within each Member Institution, a Focal Point serves as the link between the Member Institution and the Chapter’s Secretariat.

A Secretariat convenes this group of institutions and leads its members’ participation in SDSN initiatives. The Secretariat links members with opportunities for greater cross-institutional exchange, knowledge transfer, and relationship building.

SDSN Members are the backbone of the Malaysia Chapter, and globally SDSN Members are the ones mobilising knowledge to develop solutions practice for sustainable development.

Present physically were Focal Points from Universiti Malaya (Prof Nik Meriam Nik Sulaiman, Assoc Prof Zeeda Fatimah Mohamad, Mohd Fadhli Rahmat Fakri); University of Nottingham (Dr Matthew Ashfold); Penang Institute (Dato’ Dr Ooi Kee Beng); Sunway University (Karen Chand, Kong Phui Yi). Representatives from Universiti Utara Malaysia (Dr Masnita Misiran, Dr Saadi Ahmad Kamaruddin) & Universiti Sains Malaysia (Dr Mohd Abd Muin Md Akil) attended online.

In addition, representatives from SDSN Malaysia members attended the networking photo session: Daniel Lee Lih Wei, Sunway University; Dr Aldrie Amir, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia; Dr Fong Chng Saun, Universiti Malaya.

The office in Sunway City Kuala Lumpur will serve as SDSN’s Asia Headquarters, one of only three such global centres, ranking it alongside Paris (overseeing Europe and Africa) and New York City (overseeing The Americas).

Launch speakers included Professor Jeffrey Sachs, President of SDSN and world-renowned economist; Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah AO, SDSN Global Leadership Council member and Chair of SDSN Malaysia; Professor Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, the Executive Secretary-General of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP); and former UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. 

In a pilot study, the team reviewed major policy documents and select primary school textbooks and curricula, and conducted interviews with a range of education stakeholders across the country. Findings from this initial report show that, while ESD themes are present in policy documents and Ministry rhetoric, there are major barriers to implementation, particularly when it comes to teacher capacity and professional development.

Learn more about the Mission 4.7 Malaysia pilot study and its findings here.

To celebrate 10 years of SDSN, this year’s edition reflects on the growing global role of the SDSN and its achievements over the past decade. In less than ten years, SDSN has become the largest network of experts and scientists dedicated to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The report focuses on the impact that our networks have had in the world over the past year – from their efforts to localize the SDGs in their countries, engage with knowledge institutions and youth, improve education for the SDGs, fight the Covid-19 pandemic and advocate for a sustainable recovery, promote viable solutions initiatives, and develop their publications, events, and actions.

The Networks program of SDSN launched its first network in 2013 and has experienced continuous growth ever since, reaching over 1700 member institutions this year and 50 networks across 6 continents. This report highlights the innovative and impactful solutions that our global network puts into practice.

Download the interactive report here.

ArcGIS Platform Presents Data Visually

Visual depictions of progress are available for SDG Indicators. Data is from DOSM and visualisations are powered by ArcGIS. Users can interact with the maps to gain insight into each state. The SDG Monitor is updated each time DOSM issues a new dataset.
Data Enhanced with Expert Commentary& Resource Materials

To aid policy makers, educators and the wider public, SDSN Malaysia has roped in over 27 expert commentators from public and private universities and think tanks. Collectively, these experts have written-up short 500-word research-backed commentary on individual indicators.

Commentaries allow non-experts to deepen understanding on the specific SDG Indicator. Resources are available for further engagement with subject matter.

SDG Monitor Benchmarks Global Sustainable Development Reporting

The SDG Monitor is formulated with close collaboration the global Sustainable Development Report (SDR) team in Paris. The SDR has been published annually since 2015. SDSN Malaysia is calling for partners to mobilise stakeholders for SDG-oriented implementation at the state and sub-state level.

Pre & Post COVID-19 Assessment

The SDG Monitor has a dedicated section to inform policy makers on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on key sustainable development issues in Malaysia.

Malaysia’s SDG Performance has Fallen Since 2017
Between the years 2017 and 2022, Malaysia’s position has declined 18 places from 54 to 72. This rank is tabulated by the global Sustainable Development Report (SDR), published annually by SDSN. In the 2022 edition of the SDG Index, a total of 94 indicators were selected to measure the achievement level of the 17 SDGs for 163 countries.

In contrast, Vietnam and China have surpassed Malaysia in the SDR rankings. In 2017, Vietnam and China ranked 71 and 68. They now rank 55 and 56 respectively, they have advanced 16 and 12 places and are now ranked where Malaysia had been back in 2017.  Indonesia is another example of similar improvement. Between 2017 and 2022, it has moved up 18 ranks, from 100 to 82. The advances in Vietnam, China and Indonesia demonstrate effective policy implementation towards sustainable development.

Access the Malaysian State-level SDG Monitor for free here [Use desktop for optimal experience]: https://sdg-for-malaysian-states-sdsn.hub.arcgis.com/

Contact Us for Briefings on the SDG Monitor
Danesh Prakash Chacko | daneshc@sunway.edu.my | +016-796 0571 | +603-7491 8622 (ext. 7521) | SDG Monitor Lead

Karen Chand | karensc@sunway.edu.my |+6016-258 0500 | SDSN Malaysia Network Manager

Kong Phui Yi | phuiyik@sunway.edu.my | +6018-661 4855 | +603-7491 8622 (ext. 7418) | SDSN Malaysia Network Manager

About the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)

The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) mobilizes scientific and technical expertise from academia, civil society, and the private sector to support practical problem solving for sustainable development at local, national, and global scales. The SDSN has been operating since 2012 under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General. The SDSN is building national and regional networks of knowledge institutions, solution-focused thematic networks, and the SDG Academy, an online university for sustainable development.

SDSN Malaysia was founded in 2013 by Tan Sri Zakri Abdul Hamid, former science advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Since 2019, the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development, in Sunway University, is the SDSN Malaysia secretariat, with Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah, Sunway Group Founder and Chairman of Sunway Group, as chair.

A wide network of sustainable development practitioners helped to disseminate the call to relevant networks. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) informed their solutions-providers on-the-ground while SDSN Malaysia Members identified home grown social impact candidates.

Organising the event with the SDSN Malaysia Secretariat was Sunway Group, a Malaysian conglomerate with a mission to become Asia’s model corporation in sustainable development.

In just over a month’s time, a total of 39 submissions were received from all regions of the country. Prior to shortlisting, a redaction exercise was carried out to take out submitters’ names and affiliation.

“It wasn’t easy as there were 39 submissions to begin with. Our criteria included impact, scalability, innovativeness and financial sustainability of the solution,” Professor Woo Wing Thye, VP for Asia, SDSN

Based on these criteria the panel of four judges proceeded to score each solution. The best had clarity of thought, clear identification and explanation of solution and had already carried out a proof of concept. All scores were tabulated and a rank of 1 – 39 was produced.

The top nine receive RM10,000 and will convene on the 28^th April 2022 to present in front of a live judging panel.

The forum will be broadcast live to the public in order to spur solutions-making for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Human capital is one of the key components in driving economic growth and socioeconomic development around the world and this is done through drastic improvements on education, especially at the secondary and tertiary levels. One of the foundations for this aspiration is the availability of quality TVET graduates, which is one of the 10 shifts detailed in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025. Improving the TVET ecosystem to produce future-ready talent is the game changer in the Twelfth Malaysia Plan to meet the demand of industry and contribute towards economic growth.

This webinar saw an audience of 216, with participants from public, academic, and private sectors.

The session begun with opening remarks from YB Dato’ Sri Mustapha Mohamed, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for the Economy.

In an effort to reaffirm the Government’s commitment of successfully implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and inspire all Malaysians to support this ambitious endeavor, this webinar brought together a lineup of notable experts in TVET education to discuss possible ways to push the agenda forward:

• Dr. Shamsuri bin Abdullah, Director of TVET Coordination Division, Department of Polytechnic and Community College, Ministry of Higher Education;
• Luqman bin Ahmad, Director of Human Capital Development Division, Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department;
• Dato’ Dr. Ir. Andy Seo Kian Haw, Council Member cum Chairman of Industry Committee, Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor;
• Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sim Tze Ying, Head of Center for American Studies, Sunway University

The meeting discussed the strength and challenges of policy responses by the Government and initiatives undertaken by the industry and TVET providers to ensure inclusive, equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning. Each speaker also shared their insights on key actions included in the Twelfth Plan.

Mr Luqman Ahmad kicked off the discussion with his presentation on the overview of TVET agenda in Twelfth Malaysia Plan, 2021-2025. He reiterated the importance of having a strong TVET ecosystem as one of the main pillars of Malaysia’s socioeconomic development and the need to adopt a holistic initiative to create such an ecosystem.

Dr Shamsuri Abdullah presented on the governance structure of TVET at the national level. He spoke about the role of National TVET Council (MTVET), Government-Industry TVET ​ Coordination Body (GITC), and Curriculum Development Process in empowering the TVET agenda. At the very end of his speech, he urged policymakers to be more conscious of the global latest trends in vocational education including the rise of Micro-credentials (MC), the challenge of digitalization​, and the development of Structured Internship Programmes (SIP) to meet the demand of the industry.

Dato’ Dr. Ir. Andy Seo Kian Haw discussed several measures for improving TVET graduates for future workforce. He highlighted one of the main challenges is to reduce gaps between the supply and demand of TVET workforce. This can be overcome by a broad-based policy approach to support productivity catch-up through the human side. This entails providing consistent supply of TVET graduates for industries expansion and growth, mass upgrade of industry required skill sets through TVET programs, and collaborative innovation between institutions to ensure TVET graduates are industry ready.

In her presentation, Prof. Dr. Sim Tze Ying shared several concrete examples of successful programmes to equip TVET graduates with the needs of the industry. She spoke at length about Le Cordon Bleu, 42KL, iLabs Foundry, Micro-credentials programme run by Sunway Education group in collaboration with several other partners. 

The question-and-answer portion of the webinar was moderated by Professor Leong Choon Heng, Deputy Director of the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development, Sunway University. At the end of the Webinar, each speaker and the moderator reaffirmed their commitment to push for the empowerment of TVET education in parallel with the agenda of Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education.

The recording of the event can be viewed here.

Prepared by Imran Mohd Rasid

Download this year’s report here: https://resources.unsdsn.org/2021-sdsn-networks-in-action-report

This year’s edition features a specific focus on the impact our networks have had in the world – from their efforts to localize the SDGs in their countries, engage with knowledge institutions and youth, improve education for the SDGs, fight the Covid-19 pandemic, advocate for a sustainable recovery, promote viable solutions initiatives, and develop their publications, events and actions.

Despite the setbacks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the SDSN networks have seen their membership and impact grow significantly over the past 12 months. While the overall global membership of SDSN has grown by 17% compared to 2020, the number of knowledge institutions joining SDSN networks has almost doubled in certain regions. Moreover, the report shows how SDSN’s networks successfully executed their digital transformation, organizing dozens of online events and reaching wider audiences than ever before. Their improved online presence on social media was also accompanied by thousands of downloads of publications as well as the establishment of new partnerships relating to the Voluntary National Reviews, National SDG planning, and youth initiatives.