Redeemer Buatsi is a Ghanaian student at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette who has recently been awarded a 25,000 Ghana cedis (2000$) award to conduct research in the State of Louisiana.

The award is part of strategic steps being undertaken by the University of Louisiana to promote research aimed at strengthening the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals in Louisiana. More importantly, the grant aims to encourage graduate students to conduct SDG-related research that feeds into the larger SDG framework.

Redeemer will be studying how the media in the state of Louisiana presents issues affecting women and children, specifically issues about sexual violence against women. The primary aim of the research is to investigate the role of media framing of sexual violence against women and how that can affect social inclusion policies in the State.

By exploring this important SDG from a Louisiana and Southern States perspective, the research will provide insights into how the Louisiana media landscape is addressing issues of Gender equality (Goal 5), Good Health (Goal 3) and well-being and Peace, Justice, and Strong institutions (Goal 16).

About Redeemer Buatsi

Redeemer Buatsi is a young researcher currently studying a Master of Science program in communication at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He completed his undergraduate degree at the Ghana Institute of Journalism, now UniMAC-IJ, under the Lebanese scholarship program.

He also received his master’s degree in development communication from the same University, with funding from the Lebanese scholarship program. During his masters program, Redeemer received another scholarship to participate in an exchange program under the Erasmus+ scholarship program at NLA University College in Norway.

Redeemer won third place for best graduate research at the 51st RAMP conference at Howard University in Washington DC.

The SDG Goals

The United Nations and other supra-national organizations have been working for years to prioritize Sustainable Development. The United Nations describes Sustainable Development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Sustainable development calls for concerted efforts towards building an inclusive, sustainable, and resilient future for people and the planet. For sustainable development to be achieved, it is crucial to harmonize three core elements: economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection. These elements are interconnected and are all crucial for the well-being of individuals and societies.

To this end, there must be promotion of sustainable, inclusive, and equitable economic growth creating greater opportunities for all, reducing inequalities, raising basic standards of living, fostering equitable social development and inclusion, and promoting integrated and sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems.

The UN’s focus on Sustainable Development can be directly applied through the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), providing communities, nations, regions and businesses with a roadmap to working towards a more sustainable society.