On Thursday 3 December 2020, the third day in a four-day virtual event of the Global Dialogue Series took place where ways of achieving SDG16 through higher education were examined. Panellists in the session included Dr. Sansom Milton, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, Ms. Hilligje van't Land, Secretary-General of the International Association of Universities, Kariuki Muigua, Senior Lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Terry Beitzel, Professor of Justice Studies and Director of the Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence at James Madison University. Dr Milton presented the findings of his recent paper 'Higher education and sustainable development goal 16 in fragile and conflict-affected contexts' – which was published in Higher Education, the leading journal on international higher education research.

The sessions were hosted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Education for Justice (E4J) initiative and the International Association of Universities (IAU) alongside a number of UNODC's Field Offices and partners such as UNESCO, UNRWA, the World Economic Forum, the Ban Ki-Moon Centre for Global Citizens, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. The Global Dialogue Series is the most recent initiative led by E4J aimed at highlighting the crucial role education plays in educating future leaders with respect to their responsibility to promote rule of law, thereby contributing to the achievement of SDG16.

E4J initiatives aim to provide support to and create relationships between policymakers, academics and educators on issues related to the rule of law such as crime prevention and criminal justice, anti-corruption, counterterrorism, and organized crime. IAU being the global voice of higher education allows it to connect over 80 universities worldwide to develop research links based on the SDGs, especially SDG16. The online session sought to emphasize the link between Higher Education and SDG16. Following reflections on the topic, the panellists took part in a discussion based on the following questions:

1. How can we support higher education institutions to empower the next generation through teaching, research activities and engaging students and staff with sustainable development, particularly SDG16?

2. Which resources (human, and financial) and strategies are needed to build capacities for universities and academics in fragile state contexts?

3. What is needed on the policy side and what peacebuilding efforts are required to mobilize and support HEIs?