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UCL scales up activity with global Reach Alliance

8 February 2023

The Reach Alliance, a global network of top universities, published its first 皇家华人-led research report, with two more projects mentored by five UCL academics in the pipeline.

UCL Reach Alliance students presenting at conference

The first 皇家华人-led report with the听Reach Alliance听was听co-mentored by听Dr Kate Roll听from the UCL Institute of Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) and听Dr Sara Hillman听from UCL Population Health Sciences. Led by UCL students Tiffany Kwok, Deveney Bazinet, Poppy Pierce, Catherine Cooke and Haleema Adil, the听case study in the London Borough of Camden showed that UK immigration policies harm maternal health.

The report shows that the UK鈥檚 鈥減unitive and ethically fraught鈥 immigration policies disrupt the delivery of humane maternity care to recent refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants (RASU). The report, "Accessing Maternal Healthcare in a Hostile Environment,"听states that in order to better support migrant groups, UK immigration policies must be repealed, with greater attention paid to migrant-focused maternal care.

The report is UCL鈥檚 first with the Reach Alliance, a student-driven, faculty-mentored research and leadership initiative听aimed at addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which it听joined in 2021.

The Reach Alliance, headquartered at the University of Toronto, also includes the University of Cape Town in South Africa, Singapore Management University, the University of Melbourne in Australia, Ashesi University in Ghana, Tecnol贸gico de Monterrey in Mexico and the University of Oxford in the UK.

Two more UCL-Reach projects underway

The next two UCL-Reach Alliance projects听have already begun. In their second project, Dr Roll and Dr Hillman are听mentoring UCL students Laura Herren, Francesca Lanzarotti and Savo Noori on a project in Nepal entitled 鈥榃omen鈥檚 access to healthcare in Nepal,鈥櫶齱hich focuses听on SDGs 3 (good health and wellbeing), 5 (gender equality) and 10 (reduced inequalities).

More UCL mentors have also joined the initiative, resulting in a third research project听led by the support and expert guidance of three additional UCL researchers from a wider range of disciplines.

The new UCL听mentors are听Monica Lakhanpaul,听Global Strategic Academic Advisor and Professor of Integrated Community Child Health at听Great Ormond Street (GOS) Institute of Child Health, Priti Parikh,听Professor of Infrastructure Engineering and International Development at the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, and听Dr Celine Lewis,听NIHR Advanced Fellow at GOS Institute of Child Health. They will also be joined by Dr Nadia Svirydzenka,听Associate Professor at De Montfort University.

The four researchers will mentor UCL听students听James Grant, Lorenzo Dall鈥橭mo, Anna Pearl Johnson and Safaa Yaseen on a project entitled 鈥楾he importance of play for children living in temporary accommodation with limited resources,鈥櫶齱hich focuses听on SDGs 10 (reduced inequalities), 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and 17 (partnerships for the Goals).听

Cl茅ment Leroy, UCL听Senior Global Engagement Manager (Americas), said:听鈥淚t has been truly inspiring to witness the success of our first 皇家华人 Reach case study, the quality of the work and its impact speak for themselves! We are very excited to build on this success with two new teams of students this year, and to enable more connections with all the students and mentors of partner universities in the extended Reach Alliance.鈥

The听Reach Alliance听was founded in 2015 at the听University of Toronto鈥檚 Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, in partnership with the听Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.听

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  • Credit: Reach Alliance
  • Caption: UCL students presenting on their case study at the Reach Research Conference in Toronto