Lesson Plan: The People Behind the Statistics This lesson aims to put a human face on violations of economic and social human rights in the U.S. by focusing on the issues of education, hunger, housing, and health. Suitable for high school. Grades 9-12.
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Poverty Links
Cyber School Bus www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/student/2005/theme.asp The idea of water as a human right was the topic of discussion at the 2005 Student Conference on Human Rights. Here you can read statistics on the number of people who do not have clean water to use and how that affects their health and way of life.
Department for International Development: www.dfid.gov.uk Works on the reduction of poverty worldwide.
Greater Minnesota Housing Fund www.gmhf.com/portraits/ This link will connect you to a brief film and radio commentary about people living in Greater Minnesota. Here you will see images and learn about the people who are living in poverty.
Kids Can Make a Difference www.kidscanmakeadifference.org Helps students understand and respond to hunger and poverty issues at home. Has hunger facts, a quiz, and action tips. Contains an innovative teacher guide with 25 lessons for grades 7-12, focusing on the root causes of poverty.
NetAid www.mercycorps.org Educates and empowers young people to fight global poverty with information on the root causes of poverty and ways to help end it.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development http://www.oecd.org/ Contains information and statistics about the 29 OECD countries.
The One Campaign www.one.org Part of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, the world's largest anti-poverty movement. Has great action ideas.
Oxfam International www.oxfam.org Addresses the structural causes of poverty and injustice.
The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign www.economichumanrights.org A U.S. human rights movement aimed at promoting and upholding economic human rights in the U.S.
The Poverty Project www.reachandteach.com Ready-to-use social justice curriculum for young people to research and experience the issues of poverty. Detailed lesson plans and 34 reproducible handouts.
Read to Feed www.readtofeed.org Interactive games, curriculum, and classroom activities on global issues and solutions to poverty.
RESULTS www.action.org Background information on poverty in the U.S. and the world, as well as action tips.
United Nations Human Development Index http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics The Human Development Report is a great resource for comparing deprivation and poverty worldwide.
UNDP http://www.undp.org/poverty An excellent guide on how relief agencies and governments are trying to solve complicated poverty problems.
UNESCO www.unesco.org/webworld/netaid Information about UNESCO's development strategies for alleviating poverty.
UNICEF www.unicef.org Works for children's rights, their survival, development and protection.
UN Cyber School Bus Poverty Curriculum http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/poverty2000/index.asp Curriculum designed for grades 5-12 with units on health, housing, education, food, and work security.
The World Bank http://blogs.worldbank.org/youthink/ Blogs by and for students that explain the intertwined causes of poverty.
Youth United For Global Action and Awareness www.planusa.org/action/foryouth.php Has a toolkit to Help Stop Child Poverty. Great for youth interested in learning more about global issues affecting children and youth and what they can do to stop child poverty.
Economic Justice Links
Adbusters www.adbusters.org Features the online version of the popular bimonthly magazine, along with engaging consumer action campaigns, including annual Buy Nothing Day. Peruse the gallery of spoof ads and culture jams, enter your own creative contest submissions, and download hilarious stickers and banner ads.
Anti-Apathy www.antiapathy.org Visit the SwAAp and Shop section and barter your belongings through a coordinated cooperative exchange. Find out how to shop with a conscience along with other important consumption tips.
Behind the Label http://www.labourbehindthelabel.org/ This multi-media magazine and online community features extensive information on labor conditions in the garment industry. The site includes in-depth profiles of international sweatshop struggles, mini-documentaries and photos, facts about sweatshop retailers and opinion pages.
CleanClothes campaign www.cleanclothes.org Join a campaign dedicated to improving working conditions for garment workers worldwide. Sign onto urgent appeals, investigate working conditions for leading clothing companies, and check out campaign updates.
Fairtrade Labeling Organization International (FLO) www.fairtrade.net The leading worldwide labeling organization for Fair Trade products. Visit this site to learn about products, standards, and certification procedures.
Global Exchange www.globalexchange.org The website for this U.S.-based organization features great research and campaigns on a range of human rights and economic rights issues. Check out their educational “reality tours” across the U.S. and Mexico.
International Labour Organization www.ilo.org This UN Agency focuses on human and labor rights. Check out the International Program on Child Labor and find out which countries have ratified the convention against child labor.
Jubilee Research www.jubilee2000uk.org Jubilee Debt Campaign www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk These are two UK-based sites focusing on the global debt cancellation campaign. Visit Jubilee Research for data and information. Then visit the campaign site for updates, resources, and actions. Maquila Solidarity Network www.maquilasolidarity.org This Canadian network of individuals and organizations is committed to improving the labor conditions of retail workers. Visit the online resource centre to learn more about the garment industry and child labor. Check out the excellent action tools for research, education, and campaigning.
New Dream Action Network www.newdream.org Promotes the choice to buy, live and consume responsibly, presenting many practical ideas and achievable goals. Check out Turn the Tide: Nine Actions for the Planet and start making simple yet effective personal changes.
Project Love www.codecan.org/english/canadian/index.html Gets kids to fundraise and send educational supplies to Third World countries. In addition, they educate these youth about the international situation. Check out the resource materials page on their website for great resources. Street Kids International www.streetkids.org Works to help the international poverty crisis and get kids off the street. Check out the IMPRINT programs in the Global Education section for some great ideas.