^{27 November 2017}

^{Professor Rebekah Brown (MSDI) with Professor Pascale Allotey (UNU-IIGH).}

The Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI) is thrilled to announce its official partnership with the United Nations University's International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) as part of the RISE program.

This partnership will greatly assist RISE to streamline implementation and move through to effective policy dialogue with a wide network of international institutions and organisations, with a hope to scale up the program beyond the initial informal settlement sites in Fiji and Indonesia. The partnership will also extend beyond RISE, as the two organisations work together towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Director of the International Institute for Global Health at UNU, Professor Pascale Allotey is a Chief Investigator on RISE’s wellbeing research, and has been instrumental in the program’s progress to date.

“RISE perfectly exemplifies what we are trying to achieve through Global Goals 3: Good Health and Wellbeing; 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, and 11; Sustainable Cites and Communities,” Professor Allotey said. “We’re working at the critical interfaces between the sustainable development goals and bringing together expertise across disciplines, institutions and countries in order to most effectively address global challenges.”

“UNU-IIGH is delighted to join the remarkable group of partners that MSDI has brought together for RISE. Sustainable development can only be achieved through these kinds of global partnerships. We are excited by how the program has progressed, and look forward to continuing implementation.”

MSDI Director and RISE Program Director, Professor Rebekah Brown echoed Professor Allotey’s sentiments about the invaluable nature of strong global partnerships.

“MSDI is extremely fortunate to have the chance to work alongside such a depth of global expertise and understanding about the challenges the world is facing, and what must be done in order to achieve the Global Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda,” said Professor Brown.