SDG Impact Lab Fellowship for Desmond Okumbor

Trinity postgraduate Desmond Okumbor has been named one of the inaugural recipients of the SDG Impact Lab Fellowships from Oxford University.

The Oxford SDG Impact Lab was established in 2021 to enable graduate students to work with business, engaging in research that will further the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In partnership with EasyJet holiday, the lab offers 20 fellowships for graduate students, involving a 16-week training programme followed by a five-week field-based research placement. Its curriculum integrates the development of responsible leadership with a focus on the kinds of evidence and modes of engagement needed to achieve impact in commercial and other non-academic contexts.

Aimed particularly at students in the Social Sciences and Humanities, the Lab will support students to develop the leadership, project management, and practical skills required for collaborative and impactful research.

On being awarded the fellowship, Desmond Okumbor says: 'Being awarded the SDG fellowship is an extraordinary opportunity to develop the right leadership and collaborative skills needed to develop impactful research that furthers the Sustainable Development Goals.

‘As figures from UNESCO show, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on child education with over 1.6 billion children currently out of school, many of whom rely on school meals as a source of their daily nutrition. Failure to address the damages caused by the closure of schools during the pandemic risk reversing the progress made in the fight against poverty and gender inequality in education.

‘With this fellowship, I hope to gain the necessary practical and leadership skills to collaborate with the government and industry to continue to fight against educational inequality through impactful and collaborative research.’ 

Adopted by the United Nations in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal call to action to 'end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure... peace and prosperity'.

Desmond Okumbor is a postgraduate student undertaking an MSc in politics; his research examines how corruption undermines citizens’ support and satisfaction with democracy and elites' interaction with this. In 2021 he was also named one of 100 young leaders to be selected for the Global Leadership Challenge in Oxford.