Millennium Development Goals

This list has been adapted from the original, which was compiled for the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference’s presentation on THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS: A REPORT CARD FOR THE WORLD November 15, 2009 by Joanne Dufour

Overview of the MDGs
Print Resources
Other MDG Related Websites
Specific Resources on each of the MDGs

Overview of the MDGs

Click on the titles to access her MDG Educators Presentation and corresponding MDG Workshop Handouts, as well as her presentation, I Am the Goal: A Read Aloud Bringing Voice to the Millennium Development Goals and corresponding user guide, worksheet: goals 1-4 and worksheet: goals 5-8.

2009 UN Millennium Goals Report.– The MDGs are being tracked and progress is being regularly updated. This is the most recent release
Measuring Success – The Millennium Development Goals – This unit in the TeachUNICEF series is a three day series of lessons designed to focus on problems facing children worldwide, the role of the MDGs and organizations working to help implement them. Grades 6-8 and 9-12.
Teaching the Millenium Development Goals from Primary Source – Provides an array of resources for learning about and teaching the MDGs with an interesting array of current links
Shared Futures – Resources on a five day institute on the MDGs held at Smith College in 2006, organized by the Association of American Colleges and Universities
Introduction to the MDGs – A basic curriculum introducing the Millennium Development Goals created by the United Nations Association of East Bay CA
Millenium Development Ambassadors Program – A project of Teachers Without Borders that engages educators in working locally and connecting globally to carry out the Millennium Development Goals. Their site also contains a list of links to UN agencies and other MDG specific websites
The Millennium Development Goals – A worksheet guide tying in Canadian contributions to the MDGs from the Society for Safe & Caring Schools & Communities
End Poverty 2015 Millennium Campaign – Site of the UN Millennium Campaign.
http://delicious.com/globalclassroom – A site created by the World Affairs Council of Seattle, WA with an array of materials tangential to the teaching of the MDGs
Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation – Has a wide selection of materials relating to the Millennium Development goals for children, youth and young adults audiences, including free lesson plans, videos and DVDs, power points, movies to watch, websites to link to, etc.
Wikipedia: Millennium Development Goals – Contains background information with a list of related organizations and links
World Affairs Council: Global Classroom Teacher Resources – A video and teacher guide of an interview with Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, offering commentary on range of MDG issues and helpful additional websites
YES! Magazine – fuses powerful ideas with practical actions. The national nonprofit publication uncovers stories on positive solutions to today’s issues, such as climate change, social justice, economic equity, and peace. View a document outlining the MDGs and related YES! Magazine articles.
Oxfam Education MDG Resources – Various educational resources on the Millennium Development Goals for all ages
How Internet Games and Virtual Worlds Can Help You Deliver a More Global Education – A compilation of internet games and activities related to the MDGs
GDTV 2010 Special: The World’s Bottom Billion –The Great Decisions in Foreign Policy television series produced a special episode on U.S. and European efforts on the Millennium Development Goals. Includes trailer, extended interviews and transcripts.

Print Resources

Enough: Why the World’s Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty by Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman offers an examination of famine as a result of bad strategies spanning the political spectrum and critically examine the most powerful groups with a stake in the process. 2009: PublicAffairs, New York.

Our Day to End Poverty: 24 Ways You Can Make a Difference by Shannon Daley Harris, Jeffrey Keenan and Karen Speerstra highlights practical ways to work towards implementation of the MDGs in daily life. Available in paperback. 2007: Berrett Koehler Publishers, San Francisco.

Other MDG-related Websites

Each of the following websites provides additional facts and recent information on the Millennium Development Goals:

The MDGs are being tracked and progress is being regularly updated:

Important United Nations and World Bank MDG-related reports:

The Millennium Challenge is the United States government’s effort towards achieving the MDGs by 2015:

Recent reports on the United States’ contributions and efforts towards achieving the MDGs:

InterAction (October 2008) –The United States and the MDGs: U.S. Contributions to Reducing Global Poverty
President Obama’s speech – to the UN General Assembly in September 2009

UN collaboration with business on universal principles and in support of MDGs:

UN Global Compact Organization

Specific Resources on each of the MDGs

Goal #1: Eradicating Poverty and Hunger

Bahia Street.org – Curriculum on poverty and the education of women in the slum areas of Brazil.

Himal’s Story: How Poverty Affects Children – TeachUNICEF unit made up of lesson plans, case studies, activities and links to multimedia for grades 6-8 and 9-12

Lutheran Peace Fellowship – Features a wide array of resources for teaching about hunger and other topics

30 Hour Famine – International youth movement to fight hunger produced by World Vision

UN World Food Program – Here you will find links to useful information and publications which can be used to get Hunger issues into the classroom.

Animal Crackers – A Global Education Resource for Children, Youth & Adults (2001: Heifer Project International)

Abwenzi Means Friends by Carol Chew – A personal account for young readers of how the MDGs tie into the life of a village in Malawi with accompanying teacher’s guide available from Church Publishing Inc.

Hunger No More – A six session hunger education kit from Bread for the World

Just Eating? Practicing Our Faith at the Table – 7-session resource from the Presbyterian Hunger Program for middle school

Print Resources

Beckman, David and Art Simon. Grace at the Table: Ending Hunger in God’s World (1999: Paulist Press)
Kidder, Tracy. Mountains Beyond Mountains (2003: Random House)
Llyod, Lallie. Eradicating Global Poverty: A Christian Study Guide on the Millennium Development Goals (2006: Friendship Press)
McGovern, George, Donald E. Messer and Robert Dole. Ending Hunger Now: A Challenge to Persons of Faith (2005: Augsburg Fortress)
Sider, Ronald J. Christians in an Age of Hunger, 4th ed. (1997: Thomas Nelson Publishers)
Smith, Stephen C. Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works (2005: Palgrave Macmillan)

Websites

Puget Sound Millennium Goals Project
Evangelical Church in America World Hunger
United Methodist Church www.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/hunger.stm
Bread for the World
Let Justice Roll
World Vision
Global Call to Action Against Poverty
Church World Service – Hungry Decisions
Presbyterian Hunger Program
Heifer International
Mazon, a Jewish Response to Hunger: Jewish Educational Resources

Goal #2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

Wide Angle Time for School PBS Program featuring experiences of 7 children in different countries over an interval of seven years. Accompanying lesson plan: Are All Children at the Same Starting Gate?

Websites

Goal #3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts: Global Action Theme – Focusing on the Millennium Development Goals

Gender Equality – TeachUNICEF unit made up of lesson plans, case studies, activities and links to multimedia for grades 6-8 and 9-12

Empowering Young Women to Lead Change: UN Fund for Population Affairs

Basic Education and Gender Equality – UNICEF’s current update of developments

Print Resources

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. A rich account of stories of women worldwide and their struggles and successes. 2009: Alfred J. Knopf Publishers, New York.

Websites

United Nations Development Fund for Women: Gender Issues

Goal #4: Reduce Child Mortality

Child Survival: A Global Challenge – TeachUNICEF units made up of lesson plans, case studies, activities and links to multimedia for grades 6-8 and 9-12

USAID Factsheet : Child Mortality from the US Agency for International Development

World Health Organization : Child and Adolescent Health and Development – Data, statistics and epidemiology

Websites

Goal #5: Improve Maternal Health

Maternal and Newborn Health: A Global Challenge – TeachUNICEF units made up of lesson plans, case studies, activities and links to multimedia for grades 9-12

Focus on 5:
Women’s Health and the MDGs

Websites

Goal #6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other Diseases

Global Aids Curriculum – for ages 14-18, developed by the Slum Doctors Programmer of Bellingham, WA operating five project sites in partnership with organizations in Kenya and Uganda with the common goal of improving the lives of widows, orphans, vulnerable children and others impacted by AIDS.

The HIV Vaccine Curriculum Unit below focuses on engaging students in considering the elements of a vaccine trial. Students explore the life cycle and structure of HIV, different vaccine types, ethical issues related to research studies with human participants, and global contexts of vaccine trials. The complete five-lesson HIV Vaccine Curriculum is now available free for download from the Northwest Association of Biomedical Research (access the pdf here)
Print Resources

Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence: Christian Churches and the Global AIDS Crisis by Donald E. Messer. 2004: Fortress Press.

Websites

Goal #7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Slums in the Spotlight: Will the Millennium Development Goal Target be Met? – A lesson on slum life worldwide and efforts to improve conditions in India by Joanne Dufour for PBS NewsHourExtra

Water Fights Present Dangerous Challenges in Coming Decade – A lesson focusing on water issues in the Middle East, Darfur and the American West

Facing the Future – Provides a wide range of curriculum for elementary, middle and high school students aimed at developing critical thinking skills to address global issues, sustainability and positive solutions

Earthprint.com – A bookstore site featuring a wide range of agricultural and environmental resources

Print Resources

50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth by The EarthWorks Group. 1990: Andrews and McMeel.
A Trip with Drip the Water Drop: A Learning-by-doing workbook on water for children by UNEP and Centre for Environment Education (CEE) India. 2005:United Nations Publications.
Just Family Nights: 60 Activities to Keep Your Family Together in a World Falling Apart by Susan Vogt. 1994: Brethren Press.
Water World – Children’s Voices (An educational booklet on water for children) by UNEP. 2003: United Nations Publications.
Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? Ideas for a Christ-Centered Holiday 2009: Alternatives for Simple Living. – Produced every year, with back issues available on website

Websites

Goal #8: Global Partnership for Development

Goal 8: Market Access Indicators by ITC, UNCTAD and WTO

USAID: Trade Capacity Building

Jubilee Action Packet on Debt Relief

The Coffee Chain Game (Oxfam) Profits from the coffee industry are unfairly distributed – explore why with these materials for students aged 13+

Print Resources

One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference by Katie Smith Milway. Children’s book about benefits of microlending and microfinance in Africa. 2008: Kids Can Learn Press Ltd., 29 Birch Ave., Toronto, ON M4V 1E2
For the Peace of the World: A Christian Curriculum on International Relations Kireopoulos, Antonios, editor (2005: Friendship Press – National Council of Churches)
Mini-atlas of Global Development (2004: World Bank Publications)
Healing a Broken World: Globalization and God Moe-Lobeda, Cynthia. (2002: Fortress Press)
Bhala, Raj. Trade, Development, and Social Justice (2003, Carolina Academic Press) ISBN: 0-89089-384-5

National Peace Corps Association