action manual - challenges

YPW: New Global Citizens' program is organized around ten of the world's biggest challenges and the belief that every young person can play a role in solving them. We are proud to use the eight UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) goals as a starting point for explaining these challenges, as we are part of a much larger international effort to secure prosperity for all people.

Where do you fit in?

Photos: Maria Porter, Paola Gianturco, and Lourdes Castillo Castillo

• Extreme Poverty
  All types of poverty must be addressed to ensure the dignity of people around the world.
• Universal Primary Education
  Providing children a basic education is the best investment the world can make in its future. Education reduces poverty by providing everyone with choices and opportunities to create better lives.
• Gender Equality & Empower Women
  Promoting gender equality means ensuring that women have the same chances as men to improve their lives and the lives of their families.
• Child Mortality
  In low-income countries, about one out of every 5 children dies before the age of five. In wealthier nations, this number is about one out of 350.
• Maternal Health
  Pregnancy is a normal, life-affirming state. Women should not die giving birth. Their deaths are preventable, even in the poorest countries.
• HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
  This generation can live to see the end of AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis worldwide.
• Environmental Sustainability
  If an environmental plan is not "sustainable," it means that it cannot be effective over a long period of time. It will also have adverse, short-term effects on the world's poorest communities.
• Sustainable Local Economies
  Nearly everyone — regardless of background — wants to support themselves and create a secure future to their family.
• Armed Conflict
  The causes of armed conflict are very complex and diverse. The causes often reflect the social, cultural, economic, environmental and political atmosphere.
• Natural Disasters
  When a natural disaster strikes, all people suffer, but it has been shown over and over again that the poorest people suffer the most.