In the year 2000 the United Nations (UN) established eight development goals (MDG) which the UN hopes to complete by the year 2015. These goals are:
1. Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child morality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat AIDS/ HIV, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Establish a global partnership for development (UN Millennium Goals website, 2005)
These goals form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions . They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest (UN Millennium Development Goals Website, 2005). With this blueprint in place we are going to explore each one of these goals and how we can partner with the UN through our TESOL practices to further these goals.
Please give comments and feedback as much as possible as I am hoping that these articles are actually joint ventures and will give credit where credit is due. I am aiming to properly reference all sources and will reference names or pseudonyms.
References
UN Millennium Development Goals. (2005). United Nations. Available December 31, 2007 from http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/index.html
Skipp has taught EFL in several countries but is currently a student in the MA TESOL program at Trinity Western University. He runs the newly formed website Skipp Class in which he discusses TESOL with issues of social justice. He is married with no children.