This Academic Impact aims to promote the direct engagement of institutions of higher education in different programmes, projects and initiatives relevant to this mandate. We therefore strongly encourage all our members to actively propose ideas and take part in this initiative.
Taking part in the Academic Impact initiative implies the commitment to the following 10 basic principles:

1.    A commitment to the principles inherent in the United National Charter as values that education seeks to promote and help fulfil;
2.    A commitment to human rights, among them the freedom of inquiry, opinion and speech;
3.    A commitment to educational opportunity for all people, regardless of gender, race, religion or ethnicity;
4.    A commitment to the opportunity for every interested individual to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for the pursuit of higher education;
5.    A commitment to building capacity in higher education systems across the world;
6.    A commitment to encouraging global citizenship through education;
7.    A commitment to advancing peace and conflict resolution through education;
8.    A commitment to addressing issues of poverty through education;
9.    A commitment to promoting sustainability through education;
10.  A commitment to promoting inter-cultural dialogue and understanding and the "unlearning" of intolerance through education.

In this initiative, the Santander Group is expected to undertake further policies and programmes that reflect adherence to these principles and, more specifically, to:

•    Undertake one new activity each year, to actively address at least one of the ten basic principles of the Academic Impact listed above. Examples of this could include research projects and papers, the hosting of a conference, the financing of participation of students in a specific United Nations activity in the field, or a specific action or activity on campus. Any activity which is sponsored or paid for by a United Nations entity in the context of its own work programme is excluded from consideration.

•    Placing prominently upon its websites or in periodic printed publications details of such activity, highlighting its relationship to the Academic Impact.

All SG members and partners are welcome to suggest ideas as to what initiatives could be undertaken.
For more information, please visit the Academic Impact website .