Studying the Millennium Development Goals: a resource for university education.

• Author: Otieno, Alex

The work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, such as Development as Freedom, suggests that studying development offers a fertile ground for investigation and training. The beauty of the whole idea is that this possibility transcends traditional divisions of the world into more and less developed, and lends itself to encompassing components of the emerging idea of human security. Thus, the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be seen as a resource for education at various levels.

Almost all States are committed to achieving the eight MDGs by 2015: 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; and develop a global partnership for health. Several studies on the MDGs and breakdowns of their attainment are emerging.

MDGs can be a component of quality global education at all levels. They can be used to teach students about the UN system, specific States, gender equity/disparities, global health, disease trends and social change, to mention a few. Relevant resources from the websites of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Environmental Programme, the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS can serve as additional resources.

In the interest of brevity, I will focus on how such resources can be employed in university education. The MDGs can be integrated into university teaching by instructors following classical, critical or empowerment pedagogical orientations. Existing and emergent data on national goals and relevant publications on the topics are amenable to analysis in disciplines such as anthropology, business, communication, ecology, economics, international studies, journalism, liberal studies, political science, public health, sociology and women's studies. Can one make meaningful contribution to theory, policy and practice, as domains and/or a continuum using the MDGs? The answer is yes. Numerous possibilities are offered by focusing on a specific MDG at the national and global levels, or considering the entire millennium project enterprise.

For those interested in analyzing the political, cultural and social dynamics, the MDGs can be useful to show levels and trends in development that answer questions...