As the UK’s cultural relations agency, the British Council promote cultural understanding and encourage cooperation by influencing people, policy and practice; building lasting partnerships; promoting mobility and exchange; and building capacity.
It’s a ripple effect that leads people to become change agents – and challenge themselves and others to think and behave in a different way." - Jill Mann, Together for Peace, UK Active Citizens Delivery Partner Organisation
Intercultural dialogue is a powerful tool that can increase co-operation, improve decision making and leadership skills, as well as effective and sustainable social action.
Active Citizens connects thousands of like-minded people around the world who want to make a fairer and more inclusive society.
The Civil Society Support Programme’s guiding principles have put humanity back into development.” - Ethiopian civil society organisation
The global partnership commitment of Goal 17 requires a strong and vibrant civil society, working at local, national and international levels, able to engage with governments and the private sector to mobilise.
Students have come into direct contact with other students outside the country... This has allowed the students to actually experience global citizenship - they are interested in talking and learning about other places, people, cultures and religions.” - School Leader, Nigeria
The new Connecting Classrooms programme was launched in 2015 and will run until 2018. It directly contributes to Goal 4 of the SDGs.
The British Council's social entrepreneur training was crucial to our development... When I joined the training, we had no service centres, but now we have nearly 100 service centres and serve 200,000 elderly citizens.” - CEO, Golden Sun, a Chinese social enterprise
We cannot solely rely on traditional philanthropic approaches to address the world’s biggest challenges. Mainstreaming social enterprise and social investment in global economic models and aid delivery is essential if we are to meet the ambitious targets of the SDGs.
Our role is to build upon this foundation and create something that brings long-term benefits not just to the partners, but also to young people, employers and the wider community.” - Sanjeev Ohri, Vice Principal, Dudley College
International skills partnerships are recognised by governments and industry as a powerful and cost-effective way of building the skills required to deliver economic prosperity, social cohesion and individual fulfilment.
We believe that education and lifelong learning have the power to change societies, enable people to flourish, support their communities, and engage with the institutions that affect their lives.
Our perception, view and vision have changed. It is no longer about laying blame across institutions in the justice sector, but having a unified objective to ensure speedy delivery of justice.’ - Justice Darius Khobo, High Court Judge and Chairperson of the Kaduna Justice Sector Co-ordination Group in Kaduna State, Nigeria
Civil conflict and the use of violence to redress grievances are major threats to global stability, progress and prosperity.
Improved governance and rule of law is fundamental for stability and global security.
I have not only gained in new knowledge, but also established more collaboration with young researchers like me... Back home, Dor Boa and I have successfully proposed two projects towards diagnostics and herbal traditional medicine in neuroblastoma, a common cancer in Vietnamese children." My Vu, Researcher Links participant
Science and research must be integrated into post-2015 actions to ensure an evidence-informed agenda. To ensure this integration happens at the policy formulation stage, the critical engagement point for the science community is now.
The Newton Fund is a £375 million fund, managed by the UK government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which uses science and innovation to promote economic development and welfare. It is delivered through 15 UK delivery partners with 15 partner countries with projects ranging from combatting Dengue fever in Mexico to recycling electronic waste in Vietnam.
When the programme began in Mount Elgon, boys would harass, intimidate and even bully girls when they first met. But...boys no longer bully the girls, and there is a sense of respect. The girls have become more aware of their rights and are more empowered..." (Jacklyn Mwetuny, a community coach, Addressing Violence Against Women and Girls Through Football programme, Kenya)
Sport brings young people from diverse countries and backgrounds together, helping to build their skills and confidence, and enabling them to meet and engage with peers in their school, community and the wider world.
It’s not about being a man or a woman. It’s all about being a human.” (Turkish student)
There are many more girls out of school than boys and in many countries girls face enormous challenges in even getting to school.
Equity is written into Goal 4 and contains a specific target around eliminating gender disparities. But this is also about ensuring that girls and boys have access to the same quality of learning and can achieve the same outcomes.
In Turkey the project Promoting Gender Equality in Education is promoting gender equality for girls and boys throughout the education system by helping teachers, schools and the ministry of education to understand gender equality, assess their schools’ capability and capacity to deliver on this and to ensure the curriculum and textbooks are free from gender bias.
Teach India is a small ray of light which gives us an opportunity to brighten our future.” (Arpit, Teach India learner and Café Coffee Day employee)
The development of models to improve access to English at all stages of life is at the heart of Goal 4. It is essential for personal development and access to meaningful employment leading to sustained economic growth.
Our work in English aims to provide this key skill to everyone who needs it, regardless of economic or social status.
‘Teach India’ is a partnership between the British Council, the Times of India and over 120 Indian NGOs. Working with 18-30 year olds from disadvantaged urban backgrounds, the initiative aims to develop their English language skills which can help lead to sustainable employment in fields including IT, media, hospitality, and retail.
Since 2010, this model has trained more than 35,000 learners with over 60 per cent of them receiving job offers after their course.
Find out more about our work in raising English standards in India.
Like many Syrians out there who are scattered, I simply wish to stitch my Syria back through an act of art..." Mohamad Khayata, artist
Artistic and cultural approaches are an effective way to support communities to participate in cross-cultural dialogue, creative and collective problem-solving, and capacity building.
The British Council's Culture and Development work globally responds to SDGs 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, 16 and 13.
Culture and Development is an area of work in which we explore the value of arts, culture, creativity and heritage for development that is longterm and sustainable.
We do this through:
Find out more about Culture and Development
I felt like I mattered, like my voice combined with others can bring change to this world that seems so bleak and grey but which can actually be full of colours if I am just courageous enough to paint it.” Hella, YAV participant
We believe resilience to conflict can be increased by developing an individual’s skills and capacity to think creatively, to challenge received wisdom, argue alternative explanations, and negotiate a different future.
The programme develops young people’s skills and creates opportunities for debating and advocacy.
A partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the Anna Lindh Foundation, the programme (launched in 2011) has led to the establishment of debating clubs in schools, universities, NGOs and youth centres and has involved 100,000 people from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia.