Shape the FutureMillenium Development Goals

St Bedes School, Redhill

by Hannah Cheek, Ivana Murphy, Tamsin Lloyd, Kristina Adriatico & Hannah Moss

THIS IS THE TIME TO ACT

Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Achieve universal primary education

Promote gender equality and empower women

Reduce child mortality

Improve maternal health

Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Ensure environmental sustainability

Develop a global partnership for development

MDGs

Worldwide fewer people are dying from malaria and access to treatment for HIV/AIDS has increased. The number now living with HIV/AIDS has, however, increased by 17%, moving further from the target.

The number living on less than $1.25 a day has fallen by 47% and, although economic issues have slowed the rate down, extreme poverty is still decreasing. Yet in 2015 there will still be around 1 billion, 16% of the world's population, living on less than $1.25 a day.

Since 1990 the number of children out of school has dropped from 100 to 61 million, but there are too many children who drop out of school or miss out because there are not enough secondary places. Still 120 million young people have the status of illiterate.

Primary education for both genders has now been achieved worldwide, however the representation of women is still low, in both paid employment and national government, as 4 in 5 seats are held by men. Abuse of women is still prevalent globally.

Although child mortality has fallen by 4.4 million worldwide, 7 million children under the age of 5 die every year. The progress that has been made is not fast enough to meet the target in 2015, however in LEDCs the rate of progress has improved.

Maternal mortality has almost halved since 1990 but is nowhere near the 2015 target of three quarters. Teen pregnancy has been reduced, although the rate of progress has slowed in the last decade. Wider access to reproductive healthcare is also available.

The spread of tuberculosis appears to to have been stopped.

Environmentally, there were many aspects they wanted to achieve. Slum dwellers are now living in more habitable conditions but the population is increasing. People now have increased access to water sources and water sanitation has improved but not enough to meet the target.

MEDCs have given aid to LEDCs and reduced the tax charged to them on import, with some issues. Mobile phone use is now regular in LEDCs and internet use is increasng but at a slower rate. The money owed by LEDCs to developed countries has decreased.

No Success

Success

New Development Goals

• Health

• Education

• Equality

• Environment

• Security

HEALTHWe all know that people die and that at one point in

our lives it will be our time to pass, however that does not mean that the 1.2 million deaths every year from malaria should be forgotten about. It does not mean the 7 million under fives who die annually should be tossed aside. These figures show that we have to do something and do it now, because while you are reading this, a child has died from malaria somewhere in the world.

What can we do to aid these situations? How much do we spend on medication in this country? The price varies, but for those people who desperately need the medication it is far too expensive to purchase. This is because of patents. If we were to try to remove the patents from these major medications it would be more affordable and accessible to those who need it. Another cheap and simple cure is to send a group of people to villages in less developed areas, to educate them in easy preventions and cures, such as filtering water and using protection whilst having intercourse, as a way to prevent HIV/AIDS.

We need to act and we need to act now, as there are preventable deaths that nothing is being done about.

• Make all medication more readily available and affordable.

• Reduce child and maternal mortality by 50%.

• Educate women about easy prevention methods and cures.

• Reduce the 1.2million annual deaths from malaria by 50%.

EDUCATIONAround the world, over 70 million children do not

go to school. Either costs are too high for parents to afford multiple children to attend or just not enough places are available. We have the privilege of schooling, which we take advantage of, while there are children who would do anything to learn. In developing countries there is not the same budget for equipment and training, so the quality of education is lacking. How are these countries supposed to develop, if the future generation are not being taught the skills needed to maintain a fulfilling job?

We asked a school in Tanzania some questions, and both boys and girls of 15-17 answered that they wished for improved job opportunities. We feel that making that one of our goals will be an intelligent and useful decision.

Our goal is to increase the amount of free schooling available, specifically in developing areas. We also plan to improve the quality of teaching by broadening the curriculum, so enabling students to gain life skills. Of course we will encounter problems, but these are the 3 main steps in order to achieve improved worldwide education.

• Increase amount of free education by 50%.

• Train more teachers to provide a better quality of education.

• Improve access to job opportunities in less developed areas.

EqUALITYIn the UK males and females are treated equally

with respect. But that is not the case worldwide. Women still face discrimination in many areas, including education, work, management of finances and participation in government. They also continue to face abuse and violence just because they are female.This has set back the previous goals and hindered the aims being completed.

Several countries also have laws which prevent people speaking out, often with execution as punishment. These countries, such as Iran and North Korea, are seriously reducing the effect of equality. There are also laws on religions and we feel that they also should be treated equally and with respect.

Worldwide, including the UK and USA, human rights are not respected and are frequently violated, often through discrimination towards sexuality, religion, age and colour of skin. If we really want to improve the world we live in, then we need to do something about inequality. It will be hard, but if a small number of people start off by treating everyone the same, we will have made a small step in the right direction.

• Allow more freedom of speech in corrupt areas.

• Improve equality in human rights.

• Improve gender equality.

ENVIRONMENTWe live in a community which has green grass,

trees, open fields and houses, however, if you were to go to Africa or South America and visit the slums, I can guarantee you would be appalled. How would you like to live in a one-roomed shack, with holes in the corrugated tin roof, sharing a toilet with 50 families and living your life in one place, where the streets are paved with faeces. This is how 1 billion people live. That is an awful lot of people, which is why something needs to be done about it. The living conditions must be improved and the population of the slums reduced.

Instead the complete opposite is taking place. Major cities are burning fuels day and night, increasing the amount of greenhouse gases that escape into the atmosphere, eating up the ozone layer and increasing global warming.

Trees provide us with oxygen and with deforestation happening at an alarming rate, our rainforests will soon be considerably reduced, resulting in extinction of hundreds of species of plants and animals. We need to change the way humans treat the environment, as we will not have it forever.

• Reduce number of slum dwellers by 10%.

• Improve sanitation and living conditions in the slums.

• Monitor amount of greenhouse gases used in major cities.

• Sustain forests and monitor deforestation.

SECURITY• Child abuse is reported every 10 seconds.

• A woman is beaten in the US every 9 seconds.

• 61% of sexual assaults are not reported.

Is this really the world we want to live in? Do you feel safe? Should we be allowed to live independently or do we have to constantly fear for our safety? 3 million child abuse cases annually. Every week 2 women die from domestic abuse. It is not just the shocking figures but the fact that we are oblivious to what really happens. Should we not be aware of what happens and try to stop it? Are there laws to punish attackers appropriately? Are we trained in self defense, or ways that we can prevent things happening, whatever our gender. Surely people should be allowed to feel safe and that their feelings are worth something. 2.5 million people are trafficked each year in the sex industry. Is this not wrong? We have to change it. 1.2 million children are forced into sex labour and beaten every year. Now tell me you feel safe. This is not to make you worry. It is to make you change the way you think about things.

Abuse is something big. Abuse is something so horrid it hurts your soul. Abuse is something that needs to be stopped and stopped now.

• Enable protection to those who need it.

• Have workshops and training in self defense.

• Provide worldwide safety from domestic abuse.

MDGsThe Survey

St Bedes School has a link with a partner school in Tanzania, called Shambalai Secondary School. We sent off a questionnaire, asking them about the Millenium Development goals and what they would like to see happen in Tanzania. The pie charts show the top 5 aspirations, by gender. It is clear that the boys are already treated with more respect than the girls, since the females would prefer a good quality at home and equality between men and women, whereas the boys focused on political freedom and internet access. By contrast both genders would like to have better job opportunities and reliable energy sources, which we have incorporated into our goals.

We also contacted someone in Australia, whose results are as follow:The three most important of the current MDGs:1. Ending Poverty6. Combat HIV, malaria and other diseases8. Ensure the world governments work together.She also thinks that the 5 main concerns for young people in Australia are:•Affordable and nutritious food•Access to clean water and sanitation•Protecting young people from abuse•An honest and responsive government•Freedom from discrimination and persecution

MalariaMalaria is evidently one of the world's major diseases and that is why we have chosen to focus on reducing the number of deaths. •1.2 million deaths per year.•Approximately 216 million cases in 2010People at all ages are at risk, but specific targets are children under 5s in transmission areas.

Malaria is preventable and curable, but many disease-ridden areas do not have the facilities or medication to cure the victims.

EducationGirls in LEDCs are more likely to miss out on their education for various reasons. They often take over some of their mothers jobs as early as age 4 - looking after siblings and doing housework - while their mother works in the fields. If a family cannot afford to send all their children to school, boys will typically be given priority. This also applies if spaces are limited due to a shortage of teachers.The dark blue circles in the figure opposite represent the African countries and demonstrate this unequal girl-boy ratio. In the same way below, the red areas highlight countries with less than half the children in education.

Our PurposeOur purpose and goal is to put across

our views and perspective on how we want the world to develop. By taking part in this challenge we have discovered more about the past and present, and seen aspects of our world that we would otherwise have been ignorant of.

Why change the original goals, even leaving out something such as ending poverty. We as a group feel that 8 goals were too many and because of this progress was restricted and targets were not met. We have therefore chosen 5 simple, clear headings and outlined our goals for each. This way it is clear what we would like to happen, and we feel there is more chance of success.

We all have questions about society and the way people behave - it is a part of human nature - but we feel we have been able to show our purpose and the perspective of today's youth by making our goals known.

The View of Others

Save the Children:- -Nuria MolinaSave the Children believe that the main 3 things that should be looked at are:•Reducing inequality•Environmental sustainability•Rich countries taking action

These varied and diverse points widely show the recognition of what needs to change and the most important features of how to take on this huge step. If we sit here idly waiting for something to happen, while in LEDCs people are dying, are we really putting our efforts into making a change? We also only have one planet and it needs to be looked after. Changes need to be made and this is one way to go about it.

Different companies and organizations are going to have different views and opinions dependent on their area of focus. The following are the viewpoints of 2 organizations.

O.D.I. - Research Institute:-

The O.D.I. feel that the 3 most important areas to change are:•Listening to people•Getting good jobs and being protected.•Making governments keep their promises.It is all very well for a government to sit at the top and decide to change this, this and this. Yet do they always do as they say? If something is going to change then support needs to come from the whole spectrum of society, from the top to the bottom. The same applies to listening to people. The middle point applies mainly to developing countries, but is an important point worldwide. We want to improve and this is a way to do it.

MediaIf we want this project to be successful people need to know about it. None of us knew anything about the Millennium Development goals before they were mentioned a month ago. Without the support of the public worldwide nothing is going to be completed.

People NEED to be aware - it is a fact.

•Newspapers•Radio Advertising•Television•Social Networking•Videos

There are hundreds of ways to connect and share information within the modern day technology. We need to embrace this and use it to our advantage, to allow citizens all around the world to know the new goals, what they entail, and what they can do to help.

The world will not change as a result of words from five teenagers, but it is possible with support and knowledge.

THESE ARE OUR GOALS

-IT IS TIME TO ACT